Mixing Magic
by Ryla
Summary: What happens when you mix magics never meant to be mixed? Things go boom! If the guardsman, thief, dragon, highborn, and Elven raised orphen can't figure out how to work together, this world is gonna need a backup plan!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Gundam or related to Gundam nor am I making any profit whatsoever from any of this; nor will I for the foreseeable future. This is done only for enjoyment of myself and fans of the series. **

**Also I tweaked a few things that I had planned on tweaking when I first started working on this story and fixed a format problem I had been having though you won't notice unless you've seen the original.**

**CHAPTER 1**

**Once There Were Five...**

The other young knights in training and especially the highborn trainees, didn't like him, that much was obvious. But then Heero didn't much care as he sparred with his instructor, sweat dripping off his face as he parried and slashed low unexpectedly causing his instructor to hop/skip to avoid the slash. Concentrating, he was already well into his parry as his instructor made the accepted counter move. Not bad, he thought to himself with the moderate success of his technique.

Things had changed drastically in the few months Heero had been under Sir Demeral's keep. For the better in Heero's private opinion though he wasn't inclined to let on to anyone that it made a difference. He suspected Sir Demeral might know anyway; the man was keen and missed very little. He was also just about the only one that had Heero's total respect which was _not_ an easy thing to accomplish.

Heero had been left to fend for himself since he was very young, only traveling in recent years with an assassin who had picked Heero up to make a cover for himself.

The man had been a detached, unemotional person and a demanding taskmaster but he'd eventually started to teach Heero many of the tricks of his trade for some reason known only to himself. He also had, for the most part, treated Heero fairly. So when the man had disappeared on his last job, Heero had gone hunting after him having nothing better to do.

Lowe had been in a strange mood the last day Heero had seen him. Lowe had stopped briefly before going to tell Heero that if anything happened to him, Heero was to take Lowe's ring to such and such a person on a certain street.

Heero had seen the ring a few times, worn not on Lowe's hand but tucked under his shirt on a simple chain. Made of silver, it was carved with a curious design reminiscent of a serpent holding a goblet with a cobalt Vinyx gem for the serpent's eye.

Lowe had dropped it, chain and all, into Heero's outstretched palm and a chill had made its way up Heero's spine as though he'd just faced into a cold wind. He never said a word; indeed, he had no idea why it had such an effect on him and blamed it on his bad feeling about this job. It turned out he was right. Lowe had left and never came back.

Later, when he'd discovered that Lowe's last job had been the secretary of an important Foreign Minister, he'd been puzzled. Lowe had always refused high profile marks preferring to stay relatively small and unimportant in his line of work. It wasn't that he wasn't good at what he did or that he was afraid of making enemies; in his line of work you always made plenty.

But for reasons known only to himself, Lowe simply chose not to get into the big game. As a result, Lowe had not only outlasted many but also amassed a modest amount of wealth at the same time.

Venturing into the building housing Lowe's target had been a mistake but Heero hadn't expected the Foreign Minister's secretary to take one look at him and go for the dagger on the wall. The rest had been pure self preservation.

He'd thought he'd had it when the guards came pouring into the room, pulling them apart with the Foreign Minister's secretary proclaiming loudly every inch of the way of the boy's intent to kill him.

In Heero's experience, that should have been it. No one would take a street rat's word over a known and respected man's proclamation.

When roughly asked what his business in the building had been, Heero had said only that if he'd meant to kill the Foreign Minister's secretary, he'd of chosen a more efficient way to do so and the man would be dead.

Beyond that, he'd given them nothing but his name which meant nothing to anyone. He'd been interrogated of course but his stubbornness and determination was becoming legendary amongst the people, knights and courtiers alike.

The matter had come before the King due to the youth of the accused but when the King tried to question the boy, the only fresh information Heero Yuy had given forth was that due to the height at which the dagger was kept it was highly unlikely that he'd have gone for the dagger first considering that there had been a perfectly usable letter opener on the desk and at any rate he'd been doing fine with just his hands and feet as was obvious to anyone who'd had a good look at the Foreign Minister's secretary lately.

The last had actually caused the King's mouth to twitch before quickly hiding any trace of the amusement that threatened his kingly composure.

Still, the Foreign Minister's secretary had given good service for many years and the King had been on the verge of pronouncing sentence when one of his oldest and most trusted knights had leaned forward and whispered in his ear. The King had paused to give due thought to what his advisor had said and then acted upon it although somewhat dubiously.

Still, Sir Demeral was steadfast, a keen judge of character and situations, as long as they didn't involve ladies to which he seemed allergic, and totally loyal to his King who had long made it his practice to listen to his Knight Protector's opinions.

Thus it was that Heero had been put under that very knight's care on the chance that the boy's gift, then unseen to everyone but Sir Demeral, could be put to good use.

If Lowe had been demanding, Sir Demeral was just as bad. Heero found him to be cold, tireless, a perfectionist with little patience for idiots and fools, demanding the same of those around him and yet the knight had on occasion shown a surprisingly just side to his character.

Sir Demeral found the boy to be sullen, smart and already knowledgeable in more forms of death dealing instruments and methods than was good for a boy his age. Still, even with his practiced and experienced eye it was hard to judge just how much the kid actually knew at first although it was plain the boy had many things to learn still.

It had taken just one sparring session, Heero against one of their top students, for Sir Demeral to place the boy under a private tutor of his own choosing even occasionally taking a hand in the boy's training himself. Such sessions had given them a mutual respect for each other.

Sir Demeral for the raw talent the boy possessed and Heero for Sir Demeral being the only one to not only consistently stay a step ahead of him but the uncanny ability to teach Heero a lesson of some sort with every session; whether it was in keeping your temper or just plain dirty fighting. Sir Demeral wasn't the Knight Protector for nothing and he was very, very good at what he did.

All in all, as Heero slowly adjusted, and even thrived under Sir Demeral's care it became obvious to even the most die hard skeptics that Sir Demeral had seen something no one else had and the King's decision to trust his Knight Protector's intuition was once more lauded as just another success of their King's rule.

A year later Heero had improved so much he could not only match Sir Demeral weapon for weapon consistently but had been entrusted the safety of the Princess, again on the suggestion of Sir Demeral.

The King had been reluctant at that particular suggestion but Sir Demeral had pointed out that the Princess could use a bodyguard closer to her age and if it worked out like he proposed, it would be the very thing to secure Heero's loyal service to the throne beyond that which money and the call of duty alone could provide.

The Princess was a sweet girl with feisty side to her that was buried deeply under a Lady of the Court's protocol and perhaps the boy Heero's street cynicism against the Princess' spirit and gentle faith would serve to balance them both out.

In the end the King had reluctantly decided that since he'd supported Sir Demeral from the beginning and that every assessment Sir Demeral had made of the youth Heero Yuy had been proven accurate so far, it would behoove him to make the necessary arrangements with a few safety precautions added to be sure of course.

Thus it was that a very bored Heero was now escorting the Princess through the market place on an 'undercover' mission to mingle with the common people and have some fun shopping while she was at it. That is, fun for her. Not so for poor Heero.

Heero sighed gustily to himself. How in the _world _had he managed to get stuck babysitting the _princess_? He could be doing any number of things vastly more preferable like practicing his swordsmanship. He had yet to best Sir Demeral's sword and knife Slashing Brokka technique, or he could be brushing his horse, or... Heero's train of thought was rudely interrupted by a commotion rapidly traveling their way.

Conscious of his duty, he grabbed for the Princess but before he could latch onto her arm she'd slipped beyond his reach and out of the potion kiosk, excitable curiosity lighting her face.

"Princess!" Heero yelled in annoyance lunging after her. He was too late. A flash of black plowed into the both of them as the Princess had accidentally moved into the thief's path. And thief was what she/he was, as a rather heavy purse was tightly clutched in one hand even as the three of them went down in a tangle of limbs.

Unfortunately, Heero was on the bottom of the human pile being the last one out of the kiosk so he was unable to do much as the thief very nimbly recovered with a tumbling roll and without missing a beat took off again.

Shoving the Princess into the arms of the shocked and stunned Elite Guard who was supposedly undercover as Princess Relena's Royal Driver and who had managed to fool Heero all of minute. Heero wasn't stupid and was keenly aware of the general mistrust towards himself and the politics of what was going on; in fact he'd rather expected someone would be keeping an eye on him. All in all it mattered very little to him. He had no patience for politics it was true but too many people mistook that intolerance for ignorance or stupidity and he was neither. However, it suited him fine to allow people to underestimate him and underestimate him most of them did.

Heero took off in fast pursuit of the youth in black with the long chestnut braid and soon passed the two City Guardsmen who had been chasing the youth.

Heero had never met anyone he couldn't beat or at the very least match in speed; it was an advantage he took often and ruthlessly. And he had lived on the street long enough before coming to the castle that he was as knowledgeable as anyone when it came to likely escape routes although it had been a while since he'd put such skills into practice.

To his surprised annoyance the youth in black was not only staying ahead of him but taunting him, turning nimbly in mid flight to flaunt the necklace he'd pulled from the Princess' neck in mid tumble. Soon after that, Heero lost the youth in spite of himself amid the growing crowd of people that traveled the trade center of the city. Heero spent the next three hours hunting the youth in a cold fury at the humiliation of losing the thief but he eventually had to admit that this round had gone to the fleet youth.

His day went from bad to worse as he returned to the castle minus the necklace and the Princess who hadn't waited for him. He'd had to sit through a blistering lecture from Sir Demeral _and _the King who didn't take kindly to the abandonment of his daughter and with not even a recovered necklace to show for the trouble.

Demoted to stable duty and forbidden arms practice for a week with a few other minor unpleasantries added onto his punishment not to mention the mocking of his highborn peers who never lost a chance to impress upon him their differences of station, Heero furiously fixed the memory of a cocky thief in his mind and with every stab of the stable fork pictured himself cutting the thief with the mocking grin and long braided hair to pieces… slowly of course.

GWGWGW

Elsewhere in the city, said thief was grinning widely to himself in the smoky, dim lit back room of the shabby Sleepy Shal'aas Inn going through his loot.

He was known as Shin to most people, or to a choice few as Duo Maxwell and he was well known to the local underground as being the best thief in that section of the city. In all actuality, he was probably the best of them ever.

The Thieves' Guild had tried more than once to curtail his activities after he had refused every offer they'd ever made, preferring instead to work alone.

After he'd refused their offers, they'd tried sending enforcers after him. They had yet to succeed. The few times they'd actually managed to pin him down, the Guild's enforcers had mysteriously been dumped at the Guild's HQ unconscious and badly beaten or they had just plain disappeared. It seemed to make no difference if magic was used or weaponry, double dealing, trickery or the likes. He seemed able to avoid every trap they set and to see past any deception planned to snag him... or so it was said.

To listen to the poor enforcer's stories, they'd been set upon by a gang of madmen or ogres or the like. Anyone who was knowledgeable and brave enough to ask Duo Maxwell about it was told without fail to go ask Shin the thief. No one had ever had Shin pinned down long enough to get an answer.

Today had been a good haul for Shin, Duo mused as he rifled through his last pilfered bag of money and other negotiable goods. Then, an absent thought struck him.

Hefting the bag of money in one hand, he pulled out the necklace he'd lifted on impulse during his crash with the highborn young lady and her bodyguard with the other. He hadn't bothered to check it out yet, a lady of her stature wouldn't be carrying junk around and the way that bodyguard had chased after him made him think it was precious indeed.

Duo laughed to himself at the memory of the young soldier. He sobered just a bit as he followed the memory to its conclusion. In reality, that young soldier made him slightly uneasy. He'd had a hard time shaking that one off his tail. The young man had been fast and he seemed to know where to look. And if he'd been mad before, he'd been deadly furious when Shin, as Duo preferred to be called when he was 'working', had taunted him by swinging the necklace around his finger and pulling his mouth down at the corner with his other hand without missing a step. That one could be trouble.

Shrugging the feeling off, Duo held the stolen jewelry up to the light to look at it, as the silver pendent in the shape of a wolf howling at the moon with an unusually brilliant violet colored Lekkan gem in its eye that resided at the base of his own neck glowed slightly with an inner light in response to its master's mood.

A scowl started to spread across his face and bringing it closer to his eyes didn't help. At last he threw the necklace down in frustrated irritation.

Yes, the rather simple chain was worth something. It was solid silver inlaid with golden highlights in the shape of a rearing unicorn with a clouded yellow/gold colored Chemite gem for its horn, golden hooves and a golden eye.

A very pretty piece... and hardly rare or unique enough to warrant the risk he'd taken in spite of the Chemite gem. Chemite's were fairly common and while it was a high grade of Chemite it was certainly wasn't worth drawing undue attention to himself over.

Scowling, he turned the unicorn over and swallowed hard. Duo was rare in that he could read and read well. And the writing on the back was that of the Crown Prince Milliardo to his sister the Royal Princess Relena.

That hadn't been just another highborn lady. That had been Princess Relena which made the young soldier who had pursued Duo the buzz of the city, Heero Yuy, the young genius swordsman and protégée of Sir Demeral himself. Shin had outdone himself this time. He had a feeling Heero had a very good, very _long_ memory when it came to certain things like public humiliation…

The gem at the base of Duo's throat flared, reflecting eerily off his own unusual violet eyes but he was so used to its changing of moods that he paid not a bit of attention to its light or the fact that its flares seemed to be also reacting to the necklace he'd held up to see better.

Ah, well, Duo sighed to himself as he started separating the loot, part of which he kept for himself, part of which inevitably found itself mysteriously dropped into the donation box at a small local orphanage; a carefully kept secret of Shin's. The appearance of strength was important to survival and he had no inclination to be laughed out of town or of making certain people precious to him targets of the Thieves Guild's revenge on himself for flouting them.

He paused for a moment as something seemed to tickle the back of his brain and caused him to inadvertently look towards the west as if someone had called his name. After a long moment he shrugged it off and went back to his loot. Whatever it was, it had gone that fast.

Elsewhere a young blond mage prince stirred in his sleep, a young dragon paused for a bare second in mid wing beat to look towards the west and one more slept peacefully in his solitude... well, as peaceful as he ever slept; superbly undisturbed by the ripples of fate and magic.

GWGWGW

Still elsewhere, a dark figure stirred restlessly on his black throne and scratched restlessly at his arm. His right arm was normal but the left showed the scales and angry flesh reflecting the progress of the dark entity who was slowly making his body its own. The dark figure stirred again, sluggishly. So tired, he was so tired of fighting...

A crooning voice seemed to echo in his head. It seemed to be saying that it was alright to give in, alright to let go, everything would be so much simpler if he just gave in... he jerked upright in his chair and took a fresh grip on the dimly seen broadsword on his lap; only one thought in his slightly fevered mind.

Clavoran would _not_ succeed, would _not_ win out over his own human will but even as he formed the thought, his consciousness grayed out as it did so often now days.

Soon the dark chair was empty with an ominousness that bespoke ill on anything that got in his way. Clavoran was hungry tonight and tonight was the night of the full moon when Clavoran was at its peak of power. Evil was prowling the streets tonight and anyone unfortunate to be caught out in it would vanish. Then Clavoran would rest again until it was strong enough, until it was powerful enough that it could take its revenge. And until the last vestiges of will from the man who thought he was strong enough to control Clavoran had been buried.

This human would pose no problem for Clavoran then. The human was little more than a puppet now.

GWGWGW

"_**Where is that young scamp now?"**_ roared the frustrated and angry voice of the Heshiir of Ravanna scattering any servants within hearing distance.

They all knew what had happened. The young Prince Quatre would be missing yet again from his diplomatic studies. He would vanish on a fairly regular basis and all the servants had learned it was best not to get caught close to the Heshiir when he was raging about and the Heshiir and Prince Quatre seemed to be going at it more and more these days.

Everyone knew Prince Quatre would rather roam about amongst the people and rumors had circulated about the Prince actually getting his hands dirty on occasion like when the poor widow who lived in the south quarter had injured her back. It had been rumored that Prince Quatre himself had delivered food and had even gone to fetch water at the public well.

And then there was the time when he'd actually caught a thief trying to pickpocket him and instead of turning the young girl over to the city guard, he'd treated her to a full course meal and arranged for work at the castle where she'd been ever since.

There had been exasperation and doubts at first with this tendency of the young prince's but when it was discovered that the young prince wasgifted with latent Mage talent that gave him an unerring sense of people, those that knew him best learned to trust that talent and the young boy that wielded it. Indeed, he was well loved amongst those who knew him best and with his unusually fair blond hair, brilliant sky blue eyes, delicately refined face and of course his station, he was constantly politely refusing all sorts of marriage offers which were yet another thing that set him and his father, the Heshiir, at odds.

The Heshiir wanted his heir married and the succession secured and with 29 elder daughters and only one son, well... everyone knew the Heshiir loved his son but even the Elite Guard of Maguanacs politely ducked for cover when the two of them got going.

The Heshiir and Prince Quatre hadn't been getting along particularly well the last several weeks; it seemed as though the Heshiir was on edge and no one knew why. Whatever was triggering the Heshiir's temper, it seemed to find its focus on his wayward young heir.

Only Quatre's sisters seemed to remain unaffected by the Heshirr's temper. They were usually able to smooth things out between the two royals although today seemed to be the exception.

Quatre could hear his father raging even as he climbed up the corner bricks to his room. He'd been unable to stand another second of his tutor droning on and on about which countries preferred wine with their meals or vleador, whether you wore the robe with scarlet trim on state occasions or the one with the blue sash for military reviews, or whether you'd insult the Pladalin of Eshterin by offering to shake hands instead of the Kiss of Greeting... it was enough to make his head swim.

Usually he could refresh himself by roaming amongst the people sometimes with, sometimes without, his friend and guardian Rashiid but not today. That sense he got when amongst people, the one that told him whether they were in pain or fear, meant harm or were happy, was distant today and it made him feel jangled somehow and tense. Like something was disjointed. And the woven strands of gold around his neck that proclaimed his station and held the jewel of his birth, a Saphora gem, in the shape of a golden sun with a sky blue jeweled silver scimitar crossed with a Palmic branch, seemed almost hot at times.

Cautiously edging his way towards his window as he'd done many times before, he almost lost his grip when Rashiid suddenly poked his head out Quatre's window and looked directly at him coming nose to nose with the startled boy.

Quickly grabbing Quatre's nearest wrist to steady the startled boy, Rashiid hurriedly urged the boy in.

"Hurry my Prince. Your father is in a fine mettle and is demanding to see you at once." he coaxed the boy even as Quatre tumbled into his room. Quatre looked up at Rashiid sullenly.

"What is it this time? Another marriage proposal? Skipping out on lessons again? Running around without a guard? Forgetting to wear my green gloves with my green cloak? All of the above? Sheesh, you'd think I was one of Father's crystal vendars instead of his heir." Quatre asked with vast sarcasm. Then he jumped as his father's voice sounded from his door.

"...and if you were, at least you wouldn't be wandering about when you should be learning your lessons. However I have something to discuss with you, my son, and you _will_ hear me out!" the Hashiir commanded sternly.

Quatre stared. He'd never heard his father use _that_ tone of voice on him before and while just moments ago, he'd been able to hear his father's voice from outside his room, now his father was stern and deadly quiet. Something was up and unfortunately his unmatured Mage sense seemed to have deserted him as it seemed to do so often at the worst possible of times.

Getting to his feet, he brushed himself off as he followed his father to their rear garden, wondering all the way. Change was in the air.

GWGWGW

Far away, amongst the highest range of mountains, the ruins of an old, forgotten stone palace smoked in the dying sun. Forgotten to all but the last and the few of the Dragons of Faroth, a black haired young man stood at the twisted, smoking ruins of the entrance and stared rigid in shock at the carnage and the bodies that lay strewn about.

Finally, his hands shaking and knees threatening to give way, he sank to his knees; face twisted in a silent anguish that refused to release itself in his voice, fists clenched in anguish and mounting fury. It had been purely accidental that he'd been gone when the ancient palace, the last home to the last of a dying race, had been attacked.

He'd been on kitchen duty again, having been caught once more fraternizing with the humans down below in the village at the base of the mountain and had gone on an errand for the cook, an elderly human woman who had apparently put the Ancient in her debt many years ago though that was only a rumor and Wufei had his doubts about the story.

It was true the Ancient treated her with respect which wasn't given to many but the woman was so old and frequently tottered about muttering under her breath until Wufei simply couldn't imagine it happening the way the stories said it had.

But now they were gone, he could tell. Not a Life Spark was left and what could possibly cause such complete destruction of an old and powerful race? Dragons, even old dragons, were not to be taken lightly. How was it he had been gone at such a crucial time? How was it only he was left? What was there left for him now? Yes, he'd been intrigued and maybe even a bit fond of the humans but as fascinating as their art of unarmed combat was (as opposed to the Dragon's reliance on magic even in combat) and the way they_ lived_ not just existed, they would still never be able to understand or cope with the urges that came with his blood. The ancient magic that flowed in his veins and demanded release. Who would teach him now?

For hours he crouched there as the sun set, numbness spreading over him until his shivers of anguish and shock turned into shivers of cold. That's where the villagers found him the next morning, the smoke of the carnage visible for miles. Wufei stayed a week with the humans and then he was gone. They never saw him again, innocently ignorant of the fact that if he had stayed one more week they would have faced the same terror and carnage as had the Dragon Clan of Faroth, last of the Dragons.

GWGWGW

In the Forest of Shadows, an emerald eyed boy was distracted as the silver amulet at the base of his neck in the shape of two teardrop shapes, one light, one dark with a dark green clouded Gabora gem in the middle that flared with a light of it's own.

It had been doing so off and on the last two weeks but today was the worst one yet, Nanashi thought as it seemed to grow hot to his skin. So hot, in fact, that Nanashi had broken off in the middle of his practice match with his mentor and teacher Shililiahashamrukisham to lift it gingerly off his shirt as it started to glow with a brilliance never seen before.

Shil, as he was known for the sake of the time it took to properly pronounce his whole name, lowered his own slender sword and moved forward to better see what was going on.

The Forest Elf was tall and slender, tanned of skin and with dark brown hair that turned to bleached pale blond the further it went, came to a halt a few feet from Nanashi as he attempted to fumble the thing off over his head.

"Don't." Shil said simply.

"What...?" Nanashi paused, his head turned away from the amulet and as far from it as he could get with it still around his neck.

"It's full of mage energy and yet it's not the jewel that is hot, it is merely reflecting your own inner mage talent young one. Perhaps this time, it is reflecting the full blooming of your talent. Come with me. We shall return to the village." Shil turned sheathing his sword in one fluid move and started unerringly towards his camp.

It took them three days to make it back to the Forest Village of Sellivale and during that time Nanashi alternated between a dazed euphoria that could almost have been drug induced and a full blown vomit-till-there's-nothing-left-and-then-heave-some-more illness.

It was not in Shil's Elven nature to show undue concern and especially not with this Child-With-No-Name who had come out of nowhere. Nevertheless, somewhere deep down inside there was this annoying voice that nagged at him until he managed to silence it firmly. He had no way of knowing about Nanashi but this was _not_ normal for the Forest Folk's young ones when they came into the maturing of their talents.

The rest of the Forest Elves were even more detached in regards to Nanashi. They were not purposely cruel but the Forest of Shadows was not a kind place to outsiders and so there was little contact with any but their own kind and the occasional trader who ventured through.

Nanashi was not one of them and it was obvious in his human shaped ears and eyes that did not slant. However, deep at the bottom of Shil's long lived heart was an emotion that had he admitted such a thing was possible, could have been affection for this waif who had wandered into their village those short years ago.

At times, when he was in a reflective mood, Shil had wondered if it hadn't been for the amulet about the child's neck swirling with a dim reflection of magic, would they have taken the child in and would he have survived?

It had been close, many of the elders in favor of letting the Forest have this child of unknown origins to maintain their distance from the world of the humans until two of the elder magic users had discovered that they could not determine what magic it was or what it did. Even with their long lives and even longer memories this was unheard of.

Curiosity piqued, they had reluctantly left the child to his own devices and refrained from exiling him from the village. It had not been easy for the child Shil had finally dubbed Nanashi, he had been forced to fight for everything he had or needed and only until it was apparent that the child was too strong willed to die or lose to the Forest of Shadows had Shil finally appointed himself to make Nanashi useful.

The human Nanashi was slow as humans were known to be but the day Nanashi had actually fought his teacher to a standstill was the day Shil had taken a second look at the boy and acknowledged that the human had surpassed all their expectations.

A grudging respect had been Nanashi's hard earned reward and things had started to look better for the boy until now.

Shil looked worriedly at the boy as he heaved his guts out once more in the tree dwelling of the healer Til'Vash. The other two people in the tree house frowned impatiently as they waited for the boy to finish so they could get back to trying to analyze the gem and the boy's condition. The nausea was a permanent thing now, the euphoria vanishing altogether.

When their magicked young came into their full talent along with their maturity, they never got this sick. Being magically inclined as they were with even the weakest of them able to at least _sense_ the moods of the Forest, they couldn't understand what was making Nanashi so sick. Shil, admittedly not the strongest in the use of magic, was getting impatient with the muttering of the two elders.

"Well... do you know anything more than you did five minutes ago?" he finally inquired sarcastically as Nanashi lay back with a groan and the two Shandas' and the Healer promptly started checking him over for the fourth time. The Healer looked up distractedly.

"One would almost think you were worried." Til'Vash teased gently as she straightened to her full height leaving the other two to continue.

"Do _not_ imply that which you do not know... and what if I am?" Shil scowled grumpily.

"Hmm... that is a question I shall leave for later." Til'Vash replied lightly even as she looked at him more sharply.

"And what of my question... do you know what's happening?" he queried again.

Vilnalanish sighed as he straightened to look Shil in the eye.

"I'm sorry, perhaps it's his human constitution, perhaps it's something else. Whatever it is, it does not want to reveal its secrets. Perhaps a cooling spell is in order, Healer. If Nanashi were Elven he would be in a coma from a fever of this degree and perhaps it will help him cope with the maturing of his talent. His talent must be strong for it to react in this manner." Vilnalanish instructed her with the authority of his years.

The Healer nodded quickly and leaned over the boy, putting her hands on his forehead as he looked up at her with dim, fever glazed eyes of dark emerald green. His eyes had always fascinated her though she would never admit to having any such thoughts. Emerald eyes weren't unknown amongst elves and forest green was common but it was the blankness behind them that got her. It was like looking at a mirror.

After a moment the Healer frowned and straightened slowly to look at the two elders with as perplexed a look as anyone had ever seen on her face.

"What is it?" Shil asked instantly subconsciously squashing anything as inappropriate as alarm.

"If you don't mind Shanda Vilnalanish, Shanda Mlanan, would you please check me. I seem to have gotten it wrong." Til'Vash requested perplexedly. She hadn't gotten that spell wrong since she started her training.

They each in turn leaned over the boy and each in turn after a long moment of intense concentration straightened with similar looks on their faces.

Shil could take it no more. He leaned over and felt the boy's forehead himself. Healer he was not but if he tried hard he could usually sense the vibrant life force of the boy and whether all was well or not in a general way.

This time after a moment of intense concentration, all he felt was... nothing. He tried again, still nothing. He would have tried a third time but for the hand on his shoulder.

Looking up, he looked at the grave faces of the other three. Brows drawn together, he looked at the others silently asking with his eyes what he didn't with his voice.

"You will find nothing my friend." Til'Vash told him quietly.

"Why? What's going on?" Shil asked yet again.

"It's unheard of in this day and age but legend has it there was once a great warrior amongst the humans who was invincible to magic." Elder Mlanan told him gravely.

"From what has been passed down from generation to generation, who knows the truth of the matter. One says he wore a sacred ring of protection given to him from God, another says his will and mind were simply too strong to bow to such a thing, still others believe that he simply cloaked his own natural protective magic of chaos with secrecy and rumor. There was, however, one account that says that Kent of Belguar had within him a well of unquenchable thirst... that magic was simply absorbed within him. No more was said but I say this, the gem on his chest has gone silent and no spells or magic of ours is affecting him in any way. He is untouchable with magic." Elder Mlanan finished with a troubled face.

Shil glanced at the amulet and found that the gem had indeed gone quiet and still. Foreboding in his heart, he watched as the boy Nanashi finally slid into a troubled sleep. This would likely be the end of the boy's life with the Forest folk. They would see this... negative... magic by and large as threatening; Nanashi was just too good with a sword and knife and to be untouchable with magic as well... what would he, Shil, do then?


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**Troubles and More Troubles**

Out in the rear garden, Quatre saw that several of his sisters were there along with an elderly gentleman and a young lady who's most remarkable features were her eyebrows.

"This, my son, is Dorothy Catalonia. She is of acceptable noble lineage and is now your fiancé. You will be married in two weeks. This has been prearranged between the two of us and I know her talents. She is well versed in Court diplomacy, is nimble of wit and a good judge of people. She will make you a good wife I think." his father stated calmly.

"She's _my __**WHAT?**_" Quatre's voice went up with every word after he'd caught his breath.

"It has been decided." the Heshiir said with a steely and determined voice.

"_**You can't do this! How could you do this to me?**_" Quatre shouted.

Miss Catalonia, who looked to be even less happy than Quatre now stiffened and nodded sharply towards her guardian or whatever he was.

"Prince Quatre is quite right Grandfather, this is insufferable." she spoke up sharply.

"You will do as I say. I won't be around that much longer, Granddaughter, and it's my duty to see to it that your future is taken care of." he responded with a hard no nonsense tone.

Meanwhile, the Heshiir and his only son were getting into a shouting match the likes of which none of the servants had yet to see.

Five hours later, Dorothy and Quatre were staring grimly at each other across the Royal Dining table; each of them aware that they had come up against something this time that neither one were able to win.

It was the day after that it was discovered that Prince Quatre was missing. After the initial panic it was determined that although nothing was missing at first glance, the scimitars in Prince Quatre's room weren't his own, they had been borrowed from a ceremonial stack in the armory. So at least it was established that it was not, in all probability, a kidnapping but that the Prince had decided to take matters into his own hands.

The Heshiir was furious but convinced that Prince Quatre would be back shortly; after all no one got very far without funds. No one seemed to notice or at least bothered to ask Dorothy Catalonia, Dusque of Talon, why she was seen wearing only one set of fairly plain necklace and earrings without fail for the next several days... or why she seemed discretely cheerful.

After all, a few jewels and the not so inconsiderable stash of money saved back from the allowance for clothes given her by her grandfather was a small price to pay to get out of a lifelong situation neither of them wanted.

GWGWGW

Duo snarled under his breath as he crashed through the alley and out the other side, quickly looking for an out. Seeing a ladder leaning on the side of a building two houses down, Duo put on a burst of speed and nimbly ran up the ladder leaping from the top to catch a window sill where a window had been conveniently left open. Knowing without looking that the Guardsman Heero Yuy was hot on his tail and would be after him directly, Duo ran dodging through the inn to the roof where he came to a halt. The closest building was several feet away and before Duo could find another route, he could hear Heero emerging from the stairwell. It looked like Heero might well and truly catch him this time Duo thought as he realized he had no where to go with Heero behind him and the air in front of him.

Heero grinned nastily, dropping into a ready crouch as he started towards the thief. He'd been so close to catching the boy with the braid several times and yet the youth always managed to get away. It frustrated Heero to no end and without him realizing it, catching the thief who consistently made a fool of him had become an obsession with him; something to plot after when he was off duty, forbid that he ever neglected his primary responsibilities. It hadn't been as easy as all that however, for people didn't like to talk about the thief called Shin for some reason and even those Heero convinced to talk really knew very little of anything useful. It had been extremely frustrating but Heero had persevered and was gradually coming to know of his nemesis' methods though he had yet to run him to ground. Which brought them to their current situation.

Well, this time the thief had nowhere to go Heero thought triumphantly to himself as the thief he'd come to know as Shin looked back at him with dismayed desperation and made a half turn with his body as if to fight. If he did, Heero had no doubt he'd win.

Duo looked at the closing distance between him and the guardsman who had made his life hectic (not to mention poorer!) this past month and somewhere deep inside a decision was made.

Heero had only time to register two things. The gem that had worked its way to the outside of Duo's clothing was flaring with an unmistakable magical flare and as Duo turned the thought went through Heero's head, _the idiot is going to jump..._

Duo had three feet to the edge of the roof and as his foot hit the edge of the building and he thrust off, something intangible _shifted_. Instead of hitting hard pavement and breaking his leg or even better just going _splat_, Duo landed on something soft.

Heero flung himself to the edge fully expecting to see a broken and bleeding body on the street below only to see an incredibly lucky thief picking himself up off the protesting body of an unsuspecting and unidentifiable man who seemed to be wearing the mattress he'd been attempting to move from next door.

Heero gaped for a split second and then rage blanketed everything as his mind went back to the flaring gem he'd seen on Shin's chest._ So that's how he's been getting away from me!_ _All this time I've been giving him credit for his skill in eluding me and he's been using__** magic...**__, _Heero thought furiously. Scorn welled up in him; in his experience people who used magic were weak and relied on magic to do what they themselves lacked in skill to accomplish.

Duo looked up, recovering his internal equilibrium in mere moments, ready to pull down the corner of his mouth and stick his tongue out at Heero when he realized the bloody Guardsman had launched _**himself**_ off the roof!

Gaping, Duo started to back up and give himself room to run ignoring the protests of his unintentional victim getting stepped on yet again as the abused man struggled to get out from under the combined weight of mattress and human even as Heero hit and rolled lunging up with only a slight stagger.

Heero felt something pop in his foot when he landed. Determinedly ignoring it for the moment, he straightened up to face the thief with a mere three yards between them, taking a deep breath and carefully bringing his anger under control.

They stared at each other across the way, a thief and a guardsman of the royal family.

"You have an unusual amount of luck, Shin." Heero spoke first with narrowed eyes.

"And you're an idiot Heero Yuy." Duo returned, his keen eyes not missing the way Heero seemed to be favoring his right leg but not about to underestimate this most determined of opponents.

"At least _**I**_ don't depend on magic to do what I can't do for myself!" Heero retorted coldly.

"Well, neither do I!" Duo snapped back uncharacteristically stung by the implication that all he did was based on magic and not his own keen wits even as he hastily tucked the pendant back under his shirt.

"So what do you call what you just did?" Heero said almost sneering now that he had the upper hand having penetrated the thief's cover... or so he figured.

"Luck, pure and simple. The pendant had nothing to do with it!" Duo growled in ruffled annoyance.

"Liar." Heero replied flatly.

"Well, what do you call what _you_ just did?" Duo snapped back.

"Skill!" Heero said with a cool shrug.

"Sheer idiocy more like! You are _**way**_ too single minded, it _**can't**_ be healthy! But suit yourself." Duo shrugged, getting himself under control. "You gonna call for help?"

"Don't have to. I'll get you next time _with or __**without**__ magic_." Heero said flatly. Duo looked on in fresh annoyance.

"Like you've done _such_ a good job of doing so far _**pal**_... keep it up and you might catch me sometime this century. In the meantime here's a gift to the Princess." Duo curled his lip at Heero's tone of voice even as his hand dipped under his dark grey 'working' tunic and tossed something glittery at the guardsman who caught it in one smooth move and a black scowl.

Heero looked at the dangling necklace of the Princess Relena stolen a bare month ago and now returned in perfect condition with puzzlement in his eyes but when he looked up the thief known as Shin was gone and all that was left was a Guardsman with an injured leg, a man sitting in bewilderment on a mattress in the middle of the street and the many people seen and unseen who were oh-so-carefully minding their own business.

_A thief returning his loot? He could have razed the inscription off the back and sold it at any jeweler's fence and got a fair amount for it... _

Heero finally shrugged, slipping it inside his own shirt for safekeeping. This, at least, would keep him from getting too much flak for breaking his foot which meant time off his regular duties even with the Royal Healer at Sir Demeral's disposal _**if**_ Sir Demeral decided it was worth it... not to mention the Princess would be delighted which in some obscure way seemed important to him.

GWGWGW

As Duo made his way wearily towards his own safe haven, the Sleepy Shal'aas Inn run by a friend of his, he wondered why the guardsman got to him like he did. Why should Heero be any different than any of the others?

He'd always known that odd things happened around him but it wasn't always good luck and it _certainly _wasn't magic he reminded himself grimly quickly shaking off that line of thought. He didn't want to dwell on his past, there was no good to come of that.

Looking up, he realized he was standing in front of the little Chapel of St Devin. Inside the church, he could see children seated for their supper and Sister Helena bowing her head for thanksgiving. Fumbling around, Duo pulled out his days 'earnings', a small handful of copper two pieces, and dumped it all into the donation box. He wasn't hungry anyway.

Hearing the slight sound of shuffling, Duo spun to his left to grab the arm of a cloak shrouded figure who was trying to slip past him off the porch of the little chapel.

_"What are you doing here?"_ Duo snapped harshly in a low voice. His reputation was at stake, if Shin were to be found here…

The figure hunched against Duo's restraining hand but did no more than that.

_**"Well?"**_ Duo insisted harshly. On the other hand, although the Chapel of St Devin was still in the city, it was a bit on the secluded side with a small run down communal park on one side and few small struggling businesses on the other all of them closed this time of the night.

"I want no trouble; I just needed a place to rest. I mean no harm, let go of me." the low voice had a curious inflection to it. This was no native of Balloran, capitol of Sanq kingdom, Duo figured.

"Alright, but if I find out that you've been hassling anyone here I'll hunt you down." Duo said flatly letting go of the stranger's arm.

The cloaked figure merely nodded its head and started off towards the busier part of the city. Duo thought he heard the figure coughing but shrugged it off. It was none of his concern.

Hearing the door latch click behind him nearly gave Duo a heart attack. By the time Sister Helena had opened the door, Duo was huddled in a heart thudding heap just around the corner of the building where he'd dived moving faster than he'd ever thought a human could. Forcing himself to control his breathing, he figured he'd just barely made it undiscovered as he heard Sister Helena call out.

When she made some comment about having been sure she'd heard someone talking outside with almost a wistful note in her voice, Duo wished he was anywhere but where he was and didn't breathe safe until he heard the door close.

Brushing himself off, Duo made his way back to the Sleepy Shal'aas Inn more than ready to call it a day. Slipping in the door of the common room, he almost ran into a blond young man on his way out who had paused to steady himself against the wall as he gave way to a fit of painfully ill sounding coughs.

"Whoa, there, steady." Duo readily put a hand on the youths shoulder only to have it slapped away as the young man straightened to come face to face with him. That was when Duo realized it was the same young man he'd met outside the church.

Sky blue eyes bored into his with a look that could only come with the highborn. That look was quickly washed out with distress as another fit of coughing interrupted their stare down. The owner's daughter Hilde, who had been standing in the doorway to the kitchen looking distressed, bustled over and grabbed the unresisting arm of the young man to hustle him into the main kitchen. Duo followed, intrigued.

"What's up?" he ventured to ask as Hilde quickly started grabbing bowls of this and that, along with a jug of spiced cider that Duo knew well was used for all sorts of illnesses. It was spiked with a type of home brewed moonshine that was kept for medicinal purposes. Duo could attest to its effectiveness.

"He came in looking for a room but we're all filled up at the moment." Hilde threw over her shoulder as she hunted for the potato salad that was leftover from the evening meal.

"He said 'Never mind then, I'll find another' but the poor boy is just too ill. I _can't_ send him out in weather like this, it's going to rain before the hour's up from the feel of it and I happen to know that Marcy over at the Come On Inn, who are also full up, said it's been unusually busy for this time of the year." Hilde said distress in her kindly eyes as she plopped an armful of dishes down in front of the wide and slightly glazed eyes of the young stranger.

"I don't think..." the stranger started off but was interrupted by still another fit.

"See?" Hilde said triumphantly even though no one had contested her opinion.

Duo grinned impulsively at the blond stranger and slapped him on the back which only earned him a glare that slid off his back like water off a duck.

"You might as well shut up, there's no winning now!" Duo informed him impishly.

"I don't think..." the stranger started again.

"I know! You can share Duo's room." Hilde nodded happily, pleased that she'd thought of a solution.

"Hey...!" Duo started in surprise, he hadn't expected that.

"Wait a minute..." the stranger protested simultaneously.

"Oh, shut up the both of you! He's too ill to be wandering about tonight and you're not, Duo! You'll get along just fine... _**won't**_ you Duo?" Hilde said meaningfully, beaming at the two of them. They looked at each other and Duo was startled by the stranger who, after a long moment, broke into a surprisingly shy but sweet smile of mischief.

"...what you said..." he started off tentatively.

Duo sighed and stuck out his hand. It wasn't like he had a lot of choice after what Hilde said. Share his room or the night air with the promise of rain. He really didn't like '_rain' _and '_outside'_ in the same sentence.

"I'm Duo Maxwell."

"I'm Quatre Raberba."

"I'll show you the room when you're done eating." Duo grinned which quickly faded as Quatre started coughing again.

"We should have that cough looked at..." Hilde started to get up but halted when Quatre grabbed her arm.

"Please don't, it's nothing. I'm just not used to your cool weather. I'll be fine." he stated as firmly as he could and forced himself to breath steady and not let the tickle in his throat get to him.

Duo and Hilde looked at each other. Cool weather? Cool at night maybe but the weather had been warm and muggy... just where was this stranger from anyway?

Duo shrugged answering the questions in Hilde's eyes.

"Whatever. Just don't keel over on me or die in my room. The missus of the Inn would have my head." he stated as he rose. He would have to do a bit of quick housecleaning before Quatre was established in the room. He figured he'd have time till Quatre was done eating. He found that he liked the stranger but it was his policy to trust no one and then there was his reputation to consider. Quatre had seen him outside the orphanage.

Oh well, he had a gut feeling that Quatre had things of his own he was hiding. That would make things easier all the way around.

GWGWGW

Back at the castle, Heero limped back to his quarters. That had been strange, Heero thought uneasily. When he'd managed to get himself back to the castle, he'd noticed a strange ambience and when Sir Demeral had come to get his report while Heero was at the Healers he had said very little. The only thing he could pinpoint was Sir Demeral giving him an odd look at Heero's account of the thief and then asking a few questions. Nothing unreasonable there Heero decided.

Flopping down on his bunk in the barracks, he fished around on impulse and found the ring on a chain given to him by his old mentor, Lowe. It warmed slightly in his hand but Heero didn't notice as he sat remembering the events surrounding his acquisition of the ring and chain.

He had tried once rather half heartedly to fulfill his mentor's last wish but the man Lowe had mentioned had been reported as dead before Heero had the freedom to do anything after the fiasco concerning the secretary so he'd kept it tucked away.

Thinking of the thief Shin and how the pendant around his throat had flared, he didn't realize he was frowning at the ring. He slowly realized the gem in the middle of the design was turning smoky cobalt blue. Mesmerized, Heero stared into it as it started to swirl with different colors. He could make out red, blue, gold, and something else... the longer he stared into it the more it seemed to tug at something deep in his soul until the tug was so strong it was irresistible.

Heero was jarred out of his trance and yelled in surprise as it suddenly became scorching hot but when he tried to drop it, the gem flared with a blinding flash of light. When the light died, Heero gaped. He was wearing a bracer seemingly made of silver with the cobalt gem dead center on the back of his wrist were it settled throbbing gently in sync with his heart .

_What the __**heck**__ had just happened?, _Heero thought to himself. His first impulse was to snatch it off and throw it as far from himself as possible. He only barely noticed that his previous yell had brought people running as he tried to take it off. It wouldn't budge. With increasing panic, Heero started to pull and tug at the bracer and when that didn't work, fumble with the clasp that seemed to deliberately defy his fingers.

_I __**swear**__ this thing doesn't want to come off, what's __**with**__ it?_Heero started slowly giving way to uncharacteristic panic, oblivious to the commotion as two of the other guardsmen had seen the gem flare. Not that the sight of the normally imperturbable young protégé in an outright panic wasn't cause enough for commotion.

Finally getting it off, Heero threw it away from him only then realizing that he'd managed to clock Sir Demeral with it... right between the eyes. Frozen in shock, he realized that the Royal Magi was right behind Sir Demeral and that half the entire off duty Guardsmen were all crowded into his end of the barracks with varying expressions of shock, fear and on more than one of them, eager amusement. This was a very bad day indeed and it was all the fault of that irritating thief.

The Royal Magi calmly removed the bracer from Sir Demeral's mortified and angry grip before the Knight Protector could blow his top or drop the item in favor of throttling Heero while placing a calming hand on the surprised and angry Knight's shoulder.

"Calmly, calmly. The boy's just come up against something he doesn't understand Sir Demeral." he soothed the angry Knight Protector.

"That's _**totally**_ beside the point, Magi Ruun. If he reacts this badly to something of that nature what's he going to do when he comes face to face with an opponent with such skills?" the Knight Protector snarled and reached for Heero who refused to flinch but wished mightily that he was somewhere else.

"I would strongly suggest you hold off for just a moment Sir Demeral. Young Alderman said he saw _this_ object glowing and yet I can detect nothing but residual magic from this and it's certainly _**not**_ glowing. _**I**_, for one, would like to know what happened." he stated in curious puzzlement.

"What?" Sir Demeral paused, hand still knotted in Heero's tunic as he turned to the Magi only to find him studying Heero in a thoroughly analytical fashion.

"_**What?**_ _Impossible..._ you can't be implying..." Sir Demeral looked totally taken aback.

"Hold this, young man." the Magi said shortly, thrusting the bracer at Heero who caught it out of sheer reflex and promptly dropped it when it started to glow again.

There was total and complete silence as every eye in the room was fastened on him like a bug under inspection.

"Well, Sir Demeral, looks like this is where I step in and you step out. I will need to make arrangements with you as to when I can have him. He just may be the answer to our unspoken prayers." Magi Ruun said soberly.

"Yes... yes, of course...umm... yes... we do need to... talk..." Sir Demeral was looking at Heero as though one of the kittens wandering the courtyard had gained claws, fangs, and 180 lbs.

Heero had an ice ball in the pit of his stomach as his mind tried to absorb the full magnitude of what had just happened. Oddly enough, all he could really think at that moment was of the thief tucking that jewel under his shirt and the words that had been spoken.

"Well, my boy, you'd better come with me for the moment until we can get you sorted out a bit." the Magi said grabbing Heero's arm to get him on his feet and moving. "Looks like I have work to do tonight."

GWGWGW

The lone dwarf, who's name was Willick, had been making a good pace until he rounded the sharp turn in the path as it wound it's way between boulder and hillside, nearly falling over the outstretched legs of the dark young man who was sprawled along the side of the road.

Frowning, Willick prodded the body with the toe of his boot. The body emitted a low sound too low for his ears to catch anything intelligible but enough to prove there was life.

Rolling the body over, his first thought was that the young man had been robbed and beaten. Seeing the jeweled saber handle showing beneath the white overtunic made him reevaluate the situation. After scouting around a bit, he came back to stare down at the unconscious boy.

Okay, beaten... maybe. But the boy had won. The two bodies of the bandits just visible down the road had shown marks but not of a saber. Apparently, the boy had been confronted by the first bandit. Willick then figured an argument had ensued in which the boy had been taken by surprise by the second one. A full blown brawl had followed in which the boy had taken a beating but in the end had taken out two full grown and calloused thieves the likes of which had developed a certain amount of fame among the locals... and all without the use of a weapon.

Interested in spite of his personal policy of not getting involved in anything that didn't directly affect him; he finally came to a rather uncertain sort of decision. Picking the boy up rather roughly he looked about for a good place to set up camp.

Willick was rather unusual for a dwarf... choosing to deal with Outsiders like he did. He had been raised with the best in the time honored tradition of the Bouldersmasher Clan but somehow found that although his work was faultless, his love lay not with working metal or Ore Hunting, but in carving exquisite artwork in anything and everything but especially scrimshaw.

His work had become rather well known but due to his constant hunger for new creative materials, he found himself Outside a lot. His parents dead, the others of the clan had, over time, gradually accepted this odd talent of their youngest clan member and had done their best by him; teaching him the skills they thought he would need to survive and placing him in the care of a merchant clan. That had been many, many years ago. Willick had traveled on his own for quite a while now and had found that aside from his abilities to carve, he had gained a reputation of one not to be messed with. That had probably started after the first time he'd run into some thieves who hadn't understood who they were messing with and had broken a sturdy iron mace over Willick's head.

Dwarves, being notoriously thickheaded and Willick showing the best traits of his race, had paused during mid-swing of his iron capped staff, blinked twice, dropped his staff, slapped the side of his head hard to even out the ringing in his skull and then proceeded to boot the poor, gaping, would-be thief where it hurt the most with his thick hobnailed boots. Lunging for his staff as an arrow whistled past his ear, he used the full length of the staff whipping it around in a short vicious arc across the bow arm of the second man who was already shaken at seeing the dwarf shake off a blow that would have leveled many a sturdy man, with no apparent effort.

The blow to the bowman's arm caused it to instantly go numb. It also allowed Willick to close the distance with a hop forwards making sure to land both of Willick's sturdy boots and all the considerable weight of a dwarf directly on the soft shoes of the would-be bowman, snatch the bow right out of his hands and snap it like a twig. The man had been too busy hopping from one foot to the other and howling to notice. All that without once reaching for the battleaxe strapped to his back.

The would-be robbers would have run then but that's a hard thing to do when you're on the ground clutching yourself in pain as the first man found out. The second never got the chance having lost any advantage when he allowed Willick to take his weapon away but you could hardly blame him as Dwarves were not common in general and even less so in that region so how was he to know of their legendary toughness?

The two of them had been hand delivered to the local law in the next town. The reward for the two local robbers had ended up with the local charity as the dwarf Willick had moved on after having made a deal for a brand new cloak and supplies in exchange for some of his work.

Still, after a few bouts with ogres, orcs, shock worms and the occasional would-be robber, Willick had gained the reputation as a sturdy fighter along side of being a skilled artisan and after a while the humans, those who were intelligent enough to know better at least, left him fairly alone.

Having been trained to fight as were all dwarven young, what he lacked in fighting skill he more than made up for in stubbornness and inherent toughness of the dwarves and if he wasn't the very best, he at least knew more than enough to recognize skill when he saw it and he found he wanted to see what was about a young boy who could do what this stranger had done.

Finding no wounds that needed immediate attention, Willick went about making sure they had enough wood to last the night and putting the finishing touches on his little camp. He would see what morning would bring. He was not one for softness, being very pragmatic as was most of his race, and for the most part he had little sympathy for any Human who got himself into such a mess. If they got themselves in, they could get themselves out.

It wasn't as though he held anything against the Humans but he was very sparing of his sympathy for the comfort and well being of others. Having lived hard and worked hard most of his life, he found it difficult to understand some of these Human merchants and the like who were soft and plump and seemed to enjoy showing off their servants, guards and wealth as though it proved some point. Most of them wouldn't stand up under even one day of work in the Dwarven underground cities.

This boy looked rather scrawny for a human, even if he _had_ taken out two full grown men with his bare hands. But Willick did sense something else about the boy too although he couldn't put his finger on it just yet... this boy wasn't your average Human. So what was he? And why did the boy make his sixth sense go off just looking at him?

GWGWGW

Shil shifted his pack on his shoulder wondering for the hundredth time what he was doing in the middle of... of... well, _wherever_ they were. He looked across at the youngster who was lagging behind slightly. Nanashi still looked peaked but at least he wasn't turning his insides out at every opportunity. He still shivered with fever occasionally but it didn't seem to be getting any worse and in fact Shil thought it _was_ getting better although he wasn't a healer and couldn't say for sure.

"I think we'll stop here for the night." Shil said abruptly as they topped over a low knoll and saw the small stream meandering along following the lay of the land.

Nanashi mumbled something unintelligible and started thirstily for the cool water of the stream. He had already cupped his hands in the cool water and was bringing it to his face to drink when a hand on his shoulder stayed him in spite of his fever induced thirst.

Shil stared down at the water with a curious and very suspicious frown on his face. Something was twanging his sixth sense and he wasn't sure what. Hand still on Nanashi's shoulder who was giving him an impatient look as the water drained from his hands, Shil dipped his free hand into the water swishing the water slowly upstream against the flow.

Narrowing his eyes, Shil did it again then looked up stream with his hand still in the flow. Everything was still and quiet... too quiet and the sense of something wrong was growing on him. Even Nanashi was catching on to the feel of the place, looking around for a possible threat.

"Blood magic." Shil said quietly into the stillness. Nanashi looked up at his mentor through his shock of hair that fell over one eye.

"Blood magic? What's that?" he asked Shil.

Shil continued looking vaguely downstream, reaching out more with his magical senses than actually using his eyes.

"Blood magic. The spilling of blood that allows a skilled practitioner to use the inherent life magic of a living creature as it passes to the afterlife." Shil said distractedly.

Nanashi shuddered. Maybe that was what he was feeling; this sickness at the pit of his stomach. He'd thought it was simply the same old, same old. Then he frowned. Forest Elves were very secluded. And Shil was no where near the strongest magic user of the lot preferring cold steel to magic; so how was it he was able to identify it so quickly? It certainly wasn't talked about amongst the Forest people.

"How did you know?" Nanashi echoed his thoughts. Shil's attention snapped back to the boy. He'd said too much but it was disturbing to run into it here, now, when they had managed peace for so many years by secluding themselves from their dark cousins.

"Once you've tasted of dark blood magic you will never forget it." Shil said darkly and would say no more on the subject in spite of Nanashi's half hearted inquiries.

"I think it best if we keep moving for a ways." Shil said ignoring Nanashi's grimace at his words. Still, Nanashi never once said a word out loud and inwardly Shil applauded the youth's stoicism. That was life and you dealt the hand you were given.

GWGWGW

The shadow creature was old. Century upon centuries old at least. Maybe a millennium but even the creature wouldn't have been able to say for sure. And although it had roamed this world, this plane of existence before, it had been a long time. Since the dawn of creation, this creature had seen this world and coveted it. And yet it could not cross the plane of existence unless invited.

This was frustrating..._** so**_ frustrating, and it had sent lesser minions who could cross over, to this world that glittered like a jewel and radiated with everything that triggered its appetites.

Joy, fear, pain, pleasure... it hungered for them all. It had been so long since it had felt anything like that for itself. And yet like as if some colossal joke was being played on the creature, it was forever reaching and never succeeding. For there was not a single being on the planet that was strong enough to reach across the planes of existence and open the desired portal... until now.

Clavoran, it's servant of sorts for many centuries, a lesser creature sent to that world so long ago, it's son in a perverted and twisted sense, had finally managed to find a way. The blood of countless had been spilled in its quest but until it had found the last remaining Dragons it had not been able to taste success. The blood magic had never stayed long enough to complete its quest although it had come close a time or two. Only a little more and Clavoran would have the power needed.

And that was not an unpleasant prospect at all to Clavoran; to get revenge on the puny humans, the ones who had imprisoned it so long ago. These beings so weak and yet somehow these same _humans_ had managed to inflict untold humiliation and the torture of years of imprisonment on Clavoran and always with the help of the ancient guardian race of the always distant Dragons.

Yes, the blood of the ancient guardians had done nicely... only a little more and then the shadow creature would be able to roam freely tasting that which had been denied for so long.

GWGWGW

The man who had once been known as Treize jerked awake with a shout in his throat that would never be voiced and clawed at his arm futilely. The scales and angry flesh had spread from his arm to his chest but what was worse; it had started to make its way up his throat to his face. The further it went the more impelling was the voice that was always whispering at the back of his head.

The man who had been known as Treize finally knew that he'd lost the fight. As horror and despair washed over him, one last thought remained; of a dark haired woman and a long blond haired man. The two that meant the most to him, the two he'd sought to protect by taking the cursed sword onto himself instead of allowing one of them to wield it, in spite of his disbelief. And the kingdom he'd once defended, never realizing that with every blow, with every drop of blood on the blade, the curse had found power to come to life.

Now he regretted his disbelief, drawn from desperation to save his people from the savage hordes to the south. The disbelief that had driven him to seek for and find the power to defeat at any cost. And what a cost it would be.

But Treize would not know the final cost, as he lost his grip on reality and the creature that had been and now was, slowly lifted its new found body and prepared to hunt. There was one Dragon left; he could sense the power sometimes though mostly it was only a vague hum in the background of his senses. One Dragon would be all it would need for its final key to unlock the portal if he could _find_ the Dragon. The last Dragon seemed to be extraordinarily good at fleeing and hiding. Perhaps a Dragon wouldn't be necessary at that, perhaps a mortal full of magic would do. There had been a flare of something powerful indeed in the dwellings to the east, it could be that someone there in that crowd of scurrying mortals would have what he needed. One way or another he would have his way.

GWGWGW

Duo awoke with a jerk, his nightmare scream still echoing in his mind. He lay there shaken to the bone, gulping air as quietly as he could so as not to disturb his sick visitor. It had been years since he'd had nightmares like that. Where had this one come from?

Sitting up, Duo brought his knees up and buried his face in his locked arms. He did his best to bring his pulse under control but he felt it would be a long time till he would be able to go back to sleep. The pendant at his neck pulsed softly; flaring and dying over and over again. Idly, Duo pulled the pendant out to look at it, the words Heero had spoken earlier echoing in his ears. Was it true his only talent lay in this pendent? Maybe he had been lied to... maybe he was a fake. He found himself almost mesmerized by the rhythm of the flare, not noticing that it seemed to be getting warmer... and then Quatre sat up with a patient and longsuffering sigh from across the room and spoke out loud.

"Are you ok Duo?"

_**"Yaaah!"**_ Duo screeched, bounding up out of his bed, nightmare fresh in his mind as he dropped into a defensive position as he hit the floor, tripped over his boots and promptly fell flat on his rear which didn't stop him from scuttling backwards till he hit the wall.

Quatre clapped both hands over his ears, squinched his eyes shut and winced.

They both jumped when Hilde slammed the door open in alarm at Duo's screech and started threatening anything and everything with a rolled up towel. When she didn't immediately see Duo, she turned on Quatre demanding to know what had happened, who simply cowered away from her as best he could while pointing to the huddle on the floor.

Finally spotting Duo on the floor, Hilde leaned over, pulled him close till they were nose to nose and demanded why he had to wake everyone on the second floor up.

"_**Sorry,**_I'm _sorry_ Hilde! It won't happen again Hilde now can you please let go of my nightshirt?" Duo pleaded.

"_Alright_ Duo, but I thought you were over those dreams of yours!" Hilde said indignantly.

"Err... that wasn't exactly the problem Hilde but everything is fine now, you can quit waving that towel around." Duo said soothingly even though he was anything but calm.

"Oh, eh... that's right. Well, you're _sure_?" Hilde asked. Duo nodded and patted her shoulder.

Hilde humphed and after a few moments more fussing over Duo, she eventually left all the while muttering something unintelligible.

Quatre waited till she was gone and then asked again.

"You alright?"

"Fine." Duo said gruffly getting back into bed and pulling the covers up around his ears. If he pretended long enough maybe Mr. Nosy would go back to sleep. There was a long period of quiet and oddly enough, Duo was starting to feel better. He even managed to go back to sleep. If he had seen the face of his visitor, facing the wall with a troubled frown on his face, he might have wondered but he would not have gotten an answer.

GWGWGW

"So you're saying he's an Elemental." King Peacecraft repeated in a troubled tone.

"Yes and an extremely strong one at that. That probably explains why he took so long to show." Magi Ruun told his king and liege lord.

"Hmmm... how is he taking this? I heard he was... upset." King Peacecraft asked thoughtfully.

"He says little but it is quite apparent that he's not happy about it. I don't know why when it could quite possibly make him the best warrior in the kingdom if he can integrate it with his physical skills with weapons and I see no reason why not. Sir Demeral has said the boy shows remarkable concentration when he's learning something new and has an intuitive grasp of how to apply techniques. The only obstacle is himself. He seems to see magic as... cheating." Magi Ruun said wryly.

King Peacecraft came to a decision," I know you and Sir Demeral do not get along terribly well, and it's no surprise considering Sir Demeral's views on magic which the boy seems to have adopted, but I want the two of you to work together on this. We have never had such a thing before but with the reports we've been getting... we may need such a fighter. When you have managed to evaluate Guardsman Yuy and can come up with a training regimen, bring it to me."

"Yes, Highness." Magi Ruun bowed respectfully and left already deep in his plans.

GWGWGW

"So you see Quatre, if you're not careful you'll catch the attention of the Royal Guard and let me tell you it's a pain in the ass! There's this one Guard Heero Yuy... once he's on your case you will be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life!" Duo informed Quatre who was only half listening.

"Are you listening to me? I mean, I know I go on a lot but I'm serious about this Guardsman, you wanna avoid him at all cost. Especially if you're trying to avoid attention." Duo persisted. Quatre snapped to attention and frowned at Duo.

"What makes you say that?" Quatre asked perplexed. He hadn't given anything away had he? No, he'd kept a tight reign on his 'aristocrat' mannerisms... he'd had plenty of practice at that before he left home thankfully.

"You, my friend, show like a fish out of water. You're highborn though you try to hide it, you're _still _sick and you _still_ refuse to see a Healer. You walk around constantly looking over your shoulder like you expect someone to walk up and say 'boo' and you aren't paying attention to me cuz anyone else would have told me to shut up by now!" Duo started ticking off his list on his fingers. "Shall I go on with the list?"

Duo grinned at him. They had come to a complete stop at the side of the busy street as Quatre stared at Duo with a raised eyebrow. Apparently he'd underestimated the boy in black priest's clothes as well.

"Are you sure you can't read minds?" Quatre asked finally in a doubting tone. There _was_ something about Duo that Quatre couldn't quite put his finger one. It was almost like as if Duo wasn't real at times. In fact, there it went again, a flickering outline that made Quatre think he was developing double vision. Maybe it was just his talent acting up again.

"No, why?" Duo smirked and started to walk on only to miss a step and then stop a moment later. He frowned, mind working furiously as Quatre caught up to him to ask if everything was ok.

He looked at Quatre out of the corner of his eye then slowly turned to face him directly.

"But... _you_ can... can't you?" he asked Quatre in a hard tone of voice, a total change in demeanor showing something dark and dangerous in Duo's narrowed eyes.

Quatre cocked his head at Duo, for the most part unfazed.

"No, I can't. Only surface things like if a person is happy or sad, if they've stubbed their toe or they have rheumatism in their back... minor things." he said with a sigh. He watched as Duo absorbed and processed this information.

"That could explain last night." Duo said coolly. "Is that why I was able to go back to sleep so easily?"

"Err... you were keeping me awake your output was so strong, most people would never have noticed." Quatre replied in embarrassment.

"Don't _**ever**_ do it again." Duo warned coldly, eyes glinting with an unhealthy promise.

"Sure." Quatre agreed readily. "Do you get nightmares a lot? Hilde said..."

"No." Duo said sharply. "I used to when I first came here but it's been a while. I'd prefer not to talk about it."

They walked on in silence for a bit but it didn't last long as Duo soon reverted to his cheerful chatter pointing out this or that, who to avoid and who would most likely give free sticky buns if you smiled right.

Quatre found that he was actually enjoying himself and the fact that he had mage talent seemed not to matter to Duo, outside of Quatre's using it on him last night; and that promised to be a one time thing. Or maybe not, as Quatre tried again to see the double image flicker of Duo more clearly with no success. What was his inherent mage talent trying to tell him?

"So this talent of yours... what's it called?" Duo finally asked.

"I have Life magic. I've been told it's not mature yet but when it does I will train to do all sorts of things." Quatre replied dreamily.

"Oh? Like what and where would you train?" Duo continued to ply Quatre with questions.

"Things like this." Quatre paused smoothly avoiding the question of 'where' and concentrated hard on a bowl of apples piled high on a fruit vendor's cart. After a long moment, the apple at the very top trembled and then tumbled down the pile to land on the table. The fruit vendor, whom Duo knew well to be a cheapskate, turned fast and furious thinking someone was stealing from him.

Seeing no one within arms length and the apple sitting on the table in plain sight, the fruit vendor shrugged, came to the only logical conclusion and plunked the apple back on the top of the heap.

Quatre concentrated again and soon the apple did a repeat. The vendor, who was trying to sort a basket of oranges, again spun around. Seeing nothing but the apple on the table, he plunked it back on the top of the heap with a scowl. Duo could practically read the thought running through the vendors mind and he didn't need talent to see that the vendor was now convinced that someone was pranking him.

Quatre concentrated a third time. Same results only this time the vendor dropped the basket of oranges in his haste to catch the invisible prankster.

Duo started to snicker and Quatre soon followed suit. The vendor, looking around, finally spotted the two boys. Shouting Duo's name, he snatched up a broom and started after them as Duo took off dragging Quatre behind him, snickers turning into gales of laughter.

Quatre, giving in to Duo's infectious laughter, was soon following suit as Duo stumbled into an alley through a door and into another street losing the vendor who realized that he still had goods lying out in the open.

Tumbling down into some hay by the mattress maker's stall, they both had a good laugh.

"I... could sure... use you... in my line of work..." Duo said between guffaws.

"... and... what... would that... be?" Quatre asked between his own gales of laughter. Duo got himself under control somewhat and turned his head to look at Quatre a large and dreamy smile spread over his face dimming a bit.

"Haven't figured it out yet, eh?" Duo asked with raised eyebrows. Then the large dreamy smile spread over his face all over again.

"And if I had your talent at my command no one would be safe!" Duo was disturbed by Quatre sitting up and looking down on him.

"If I had to guess I'd say thief." Quatre said soberly.

"Huh, for an aristocrat you're pretty sharp!" Duo said mildly opening his eyes to squint up at Quatre, gauging his reaction.

"The thought had occurred to me the first time I met you but I was hoping I was wrong." Quatre said fixing his eyes on Duo who also sat up.

"So what now? You gonna give me the 'find honest work and make something of yourself' speech? Or maybe the 'your sins will find you out' speech? Or 'what a waste of good talent' one maybe?" Duo's tone turned dark and sardonic.

Quatre sighed. There was something here he couldn't put his finger on but whatever it was he wasn't equipped to deal with it. The tickle in his throat that he had successfully suppressed until he'd started to laugh became too much and he started to cough.

Catching his breath he looked up as an arm hooked through his and Duo pulled him to his feet to head back to the Inn. After a long silence, Quatre finally spoke up.

"_Why_ do you do it?" he asked, an honest wanting to know in his voice. Duo looked at him out of the corner of his eye. That hadn't been what he'd been expecting.

"That little chapel we first met at?" Duo reminded him. Quatre nodded his head.

"They take in children no one else wants." Duo said wistfully. "They survive on donations but you saw the place. Out of sight, out of mind, the place next to them is condemned it's in such bad shape; there's no where else for them to go. I'm merely helping with the trickle down theory."

"Eh?" Quatre asked in bafflement.

"Something I heard once... about if the economy is active the money trickles down to the little people or something like that." Duo said lightheartedly.

No more was said on the subject but that night Duo slept without trouble. He had his suspicions the next morning but whenever he looked at Quatre, all he got was that innocent wide eyed stare and he could never bring himself to actually accuse his new roommate of such a thing. He had no proof and Quatre _had_ said he couldn't do more than skim the surface. Perhaps it didn't matter.

GWGWG

"...and that's the twelfth village in that radius to fall under attack, your Highness." Sir Valence finished his report soberly.

King Peacecraft, Sir Demeral, Magi Ruun along with General Hiatus of the Sanq military, Advisor Renault, Ambassador Noin of the neighboring Kingdom of Kolonia, and her personal Ambassadorial Guard Fenwick, were all gathered to hear Sir Valence, Scout of the Inner Guard, give his report.

Ambassador Noin nodded obviously upset but keeping herself well in hand.

"That's the reports I've been getting from Queen Une. The people are always completely destroyed, butchered if you will, in terror with not a chance to flee. Our mages can't seem to sense it; no one is left alive to describe it, no witness, no clues... _**nothing**_!" Ambassador Noin listed each point with growing frustration.

"That's why we came to you, your Highness. Since we're still recovering from the loss of our King Treize and the siege from the barbarians of the south, we thought you might be able to lend us aid. However, it looks like whatever it is seems to be moving from our kingdom to yours and directly for this city no less. But regardless, the question remains... how do you fight something when you can't see it coming, don't know what it is, how it fights or what it wants?" Noin finished up throwing her hands in the air.

"Excellent points every one of them your Highness." Advisor Renault said glumly.

"You say it looks as if the villagers were killed by a blade of some sort..." General Hiatus recapped thoughtfully.

"More like hacked to pieces. Heads, arms, and legs dismembered. Even torsos are hacked in two. Odd thing is there is never a lot of blood; barely any in fact. And it's not always a blade. Sometimes their throats are just...gone. And the people look like they fall wherever it finds them. Buildings are trashed, doors broken in, fires smoldering everywhere... _magical_ fires; it's been confirmed. And the way Sir Ayllyn's armor was just _sliced_, standard issue chain mail won't even come close to stopping it, Sir. " Sir Valence grimly outlined.

"So we know whatever it is can put out a lot of power. It can also apparently walk into a crowd of people, freeze them in place, suck the blood out of them, and hack them into little pieces while they're fully aware of it not to mention it _never _misses a life even if it's the tiniest of babies. What about animals?" Sir Demeral asked suddenly with a frown.

"Apparently animals are too unrefined for its taste." Sir Valence shook his head sourly.

"It appears to me as if we're dealing with a creature that uses magic _and_ non magic means to get what it wants... whatever that is. From the reports it almost seems as if it's _looking_ for something although it would be presumptuous to guess at this point." Magi Ruun said thoughtfully.

"Well, then, we have one of those..." Advisor Renault said brightening up.

"No we don't." Magi Ruun said flatly. Sir Demeral nodded reluctantly in agreement.

"What? What do you mean?" Sir Valence asked, disappointment on his face. Evidently he'd thought of the same thing and had been counting on that very thing.

"Apparently, our young Guardsman has a mental block. He dislikes the idea that he should use a method that he considers only suitable for cowards and cheats." King Peacecraft stated grimly.

"So you're saying..." Ambassador Noin started.

"He won't learn magic?" Advisor Renault broke in.

"He tries but he is as of yet unable to get past years of thinking a certain way and applying his skills to his talent." Magi Ruun stated matter of factly.

"He may still come around; we can only hope it's soon." King Peacecraft said, "In the meantime we do everything we can. Suggestions General Hiatus?"

"We _have_ to get an idea what we're dealing with..." the General started in.

GWGWGW

Princess Relena eased away from the door, frown on her face. She'd had no idea it was this horrible. She wished there was something she could do but her talent lay in Life magic and only selectively at that. They had been talking about Heero. If only Heero could get past his mental block...

He'd wanted to know what was going on; no one had given him any information. Every time he asked he'd been told to concentrate on his studies with Magi Ruun and that when he was needed he'd be called for. That had frustrated him to no end until he'd finally broken down and asked Princess Relena to 'collect some intelligence on the situation'.

Now that Princess Relena knew, she wasn't sure what to tell Heero. Her talent helped her deal with people but Heero had been a tough nut to crack from the beginning. She had obviously been somewhat successful or Heero would never have asked her to spy, she knew perfectly well that's what it was no matter how well you phrased it, he had too much pride to say it outright.

Oh, well, she thought to herself, maybe if he knew what hung in the balance he'd get over this silly aversion to magic. Moving with purpose, she slipped past the guard who was supposed to be keeping the war room secure smiling sweetly at him and blowing him a kiss. The young guard smiled back at her dreamily and resumed his duties.

Magi Ruun was startled and vaguely suspicious at the way Heero tackled his studies the next day but there was no way Heero could have known what was spoken behind guarded doors he thought, Heero's relationship with the Princess discarded as unlikely due to the fact that Heero was never more than professionally courteous around her to the general eyes of the public.

Study as he would, it didn't seem to make a difference in Heero's 'mental block' and while Heero was getting frustrated, the Magi was simply running out of ideas. He had one more trick up his voluminous sleeves and if this didn't work, the Magi would be at a loss. What a pity that would be, the power of a lifetime fell into your lap to train and you can't find the key...

So Heero found himself directed to a certain shop in a certain part of town looking for certain herbs that he only had a vague idea what they did.

Coming out of the shop, he came nose to nose with that thief in black who called himself Shin.

Apparently the thief had been daydreaming for even though Heero's first reflexive action was to reach for the sword that no longer hung at his side causing him to lose precious moments that ordinarily would have caused him to lose the thief entirely, by the time Shin had gotten over his own shock, Heero had lunged forward grabbing an arm in one hand and the youth's braid which had been conveniently draped over his shoulder in the other.

Duo_ had_ been daydreaming and coming face to face with the Guardsman Heero had been purely unexpected. Why would someone like Heero who had the whole of the Royal medicine chest at hand be in a downtown _herbal shop_? Before he knew it, a hand had clamped down on his arm and worse, his _hair_!

"Hey, let go my hair, that's playing dirty Heero!" he yelped as Heero spun him around into an armlock _without_ letting loose of his hair.

"Save your breath you little thief!" Heero shot back as he opened his mouth to yell for help realizing he no longer had restraints on him.

An elbow to the gut surprised him as Duo rammed his free elbow into Heero's abdomen causing his grip to loosen in spite of himself though he didn't quite let go.

Duo twisted hard in spite of the pain that shot through his shoulder and managed to shake off Heero's grip but unfortunately by that time he was facing the inside of the shop and _this_ particular shop had only one viable exit, the other being blocked up with dried herbs in bulk and other supplies.

Snarling under his breath even as he spun back to face Heero who had dropped into a crouch, and shaking his arm to try to get proper function back into it, Duo assessed his options.

He basically had only one and that was to go through Heero which didn't look promising.

"Well? Give up?" Heero taunted. Duo blinked as something registered.

"Err... _why_ are _**you**_ wearing a _**Magi's**__ robe_?" Duo blurted out. Heero narrowed his eyes at Duo. That wisecrack was going to cost Shin. Heero had a headache from studying something he thoroughly disliked and he missed his sword terribly. That didn't mean he was any less proficient at hand-to-hand though.

Lunging forwards he missed with the first and second punch as Duo dodged but connected on the third try with a feint.

Duo felt like he'd been kicked by a mule as he crashed into the counter, Master Pemble ducking out of harms way behind it and protesting the entire way.

Frantically trying to gain some room, Duo scuttled sideways but fell. Seeing Heero lunging at him, Duo lifted his feet and kicked into Heero sending him flying on over.

Heero managed to roll with his fall until he crashed into some more supplies sending a shower of tools and dried herbs onto him. On his feet in an instant, Heero saw that Duo was also on his feet and lunging for the door. Heero knew he was too far away to stop Duo before he made the door and anger blossomed within him at the thought of Shin escaping yet again and then a mental image of Shin safely away and laughing his guts out at Heero in this ridiculous Magi robe and anger turned into accumulated frustrated rage and it was as if someone flipped a switch.

Heero staggered slightly as all of a sudden his senses quadrupled. The bracer he now wore constantly on his right arm at the insistence of Master Ruun flared to life and he 'reached' somehow and twisted the very air in the doorway into a barrier.

Duo was lunging for the door, had almost reached it when something seemed to shift and the next thing he knew, he had slammed into something very solid and totally transparent.

Goose bumps coming out all over him, Duo struggled to react in time to turn and face a very angry Heero Yuy but he was badly shaken. Since when had _Yuy_ of all people become magi? Heero didn't even _like_ magic...

Heero was no longer thinking. He'd failed to catch the thief on his own and had resorted to_ magic_ which he despised and it had all started because of _him_, it was _**all his fault!**_Heero watched almost as if from a distance as his body seemingly moving on it's own, made it through Shin's guard once and then again, and again until blood was running from the thief's nose and mouth.

Duo staggered from yet another punch. He'd have said he couldn't believe how fast everything was going south but that would have been untrue. He _could_ believe it. The story of his life... Duo thought even as he was slammed up against the wall this time.

Maybe he'd had it this time, there was something warm and wet running down his face and dimly he realized that his chest felt hot and then, even as his vision was dimming and there was a roaring in his ears, something dark came alive. Something dark, deadly and hungry.

Dimly Duo realized he was face to face with Heero and time was standing still as he could sense every heart beat of every person in the room, every rush of blood through every vein and that it was calling to him.

Heero had one hand on Shin's throat and one fist pulled back to deliver yet another blow when Shin opened glazed eyes partway and a strange hungry smile flitted over his face. He'd thought the thief to be unconscious but Shin's darkened purple eyes, glazed as they were, looked straight at him, _through _him even as the pendent under the black shirt flared so that even the cloth couldn't hide it and Heero felt the presence of something dark send a cooling ice through his veins.

Heero sensed the gathering of power and dropping his hands, he backed up forming a shield of air hastily as there was no time for him to do anything else and at any rate it was the _only_ thing he'd managed to do successfully. It was worth a try, anything else wouldn't be enough to protect them from the dark power.

Dark magic met Elemental magic and the impact knocked Heero back over the counter before everything disappeared in an explosion and everything went black.

The first of the Guardsmen that got there stood there and gaped. The herbal shop had been shredded; there was no other word for it. But what really got his goat was that in the debris that lay all around, the body of the young boy in black lay in an inert heap with a neat circle outlined around him where the debris stopped. And when help arrived and they were finally able to get to the other two known occupants at the time of the explosion, it was found that although the counter had been shredded like everything else, two of the counter's inner facing doors were neatly propped side by side over Heero Yuy, who in turn lay on top of Master Pemble with only minor injuries to show for the tremendous damage.

Magi Ruun soon arrived on the scene, called by the Captain of the Guard and when he saw the damage, immediately asked for a full report in detail. The poor Captain of the Guard shrugged in perplexity and waved a hand at Heero and the other two who were being checked over for seriousness of injures. Seeing that Master Pemble was beginning to stir, Magi Ruun made his way over to talk to him. There was something in the air that Magi Ruun couldn't pinpoint but whatever it was, he'd sensed it once before a long time ago and it left a bad taste in his mouth.

His attention was caught when one of the Guardsmen pulled the youth in black's bloodied and slightly torn shirt open to check for injuries only to reveal a warped and twisted pendent that was still pulsing faintly. The Guardsman reached for it but before he could touch it, a hand surprisingly strong for its slender build, clamped down on his own.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." Magi Ruun told him. "You never know, you might end up a cockroach for the rest of your natural life."

The Guardsman hastily withdrew his hand in alarm and Magi Ruun grinned to himself. He had been accused of having no sense of humor by certain choice people of the King's court but that wasn't entirely true. His inner amusement faded as he used his talent to discern that basically although the pendent itself appeared not to be inherently magical, it was impossible to tell _what_ it was exactly as it was totally 'opaque' to his magically enhanced senses which in itself showed a certain amount of magical properties except that it didn't have the _feel_ of any of the magics that he knew of and he'd 'seen' almost all of them in one form or another throughout the years when traveling with his own master..

Grimly, Magi Ruun ordered that Heero be taken to his own quarters, Master Pemble was to receive attention from the Royal Healer himself if so desired and that the youth in black was to be taken to Magi Ruun's own private quarters post haste.

Surveying the wreckage, Magi Ruun recalled what the recovering Master Pemble had loudly insisted on describing to him in great detail. Magi Ruun soberly wondered if they had found another with magic potential and if so what kind of magic? From the looks of the wreckage, he thought that if the youth in black _was_ gifted with talent, it might be one incompatible with Heero's. Whether that was good or bad had yet to be seen.

GWGWGW

Quatre huddled miserably under his covers as Hilde collected her mug and jug of brew she'd forced once more down Quatre's throat.

She'd sent Duo after those herbs a good six hours ago and he was _still _not back! Hilde mentally ran down the list of things she intended to say to him when he got back. And if she discovered that he'd taken time off her errand to do a little 'work'... well, he'd better not show his face around here for a long time. Her attention was drawn back to poor Quatre as he set about coughing his guts out yet again. He'd insisted on no doctors or healers but Hilde was worried. It looked like to her that Quatre had developed pneumonia.

One miserable blue eye peered out from under his covers and Quatre peeked up at Hilde.

"Where's Duo?" he asked and struggled to control his breathing.

"I don't know." Hilde answered a bit shortly. Duo could be wild but he wasn't _this_ irresponsible. He wouldn't make a sick friend wait...

"I think he's in trouble..." Quatre said and started to sit up, pushing his blankets back. Hilde promptly pushed him back down again even as he started coughing again.

"Hush, you! You need to stay in bed and _if _Duo _**is**_ in trouble, and you can't _possibly_ know that, having you wander around getting sicker by the minute is _not_ going to help him _**or**_ you so you _stay_ where you are and _**I'll**_ go looking for him!" Hilde commanded.

Twenty minutes later, staring at the ruins of the herbalist's store, Hilde felt a cold hand of fear clutch at her heart. What had happened? _What had she done?_

GWGWG

Heero awoke finally with a throbbing and fuzzy head, cotton mouth, and weak as a kitten. It wasn't long after he awakened that Magi Ruun appeared.

"You should know that I got the whole story from Master Pemble, Heero. He's _not_ happy about his life's work being disintegrated." the Magi started off sternly. Heero just looked up at him painfully as every word Magi Ruun spoke seemed to echo in his head.

"On the other hand, you've appeared to have broken the mental block. Which could have been better arranged. To put it bluntly Heero... I don't know why you and the other two aren't dead." Magi Ruun said sharply.

"Someone who is gifted with the Elementals _**cannot**_ afford to lose their temper. The moment they do so... well, you know what happens now. Along with great power comes great responsibilities." the Magi continued to lecture. Heero absorbed this and then what the Magi had said before finally caught up with him.

"You said _two_ others? So you got the little thief." Heero said with meager satisfaction gleaming in his eyes that all had not been in vain. The Magi regarded him thoughtfully.

"Yes, he's in my own quarters now." he stated watching Heero carefully.

"_**What?**_" Heero yelped and then clutched at his head. "What do you mean... why isn't he in jail where the little rat belongs?"

"Because he's been unconscious since I ordered him brought here." Magi Ruun stated with a gleam in his eye. He just may have found something useful here though he wasn't sure what exactly or how to use it to the best advantage.

"Unconscious?" Heero stared. Then he huffed, no skill and no endurance either. It wasn't his fault anyway, nothing had exploded until the thief had attempted to use magic and how was Heero supposed to know mixing magic would react like that? If the thief had come along quietly none of that would have happened.

"Yes, it's been two days now."

"_**Two days?**_" Heero's eyes widened and he shook his head in denial, winced at the pain the motion cost him but refused to clutch at his head again.

"Yes. I don't know why that young man is unconscious... neither I nor the Royal Healer can get a consistent reading on him but his wounds aren't that bad. It may have something to do with the magic that was being flung around. " Magi Ruun shook his head.

"If you get rid of the pendent..." Heero started when Magi Ruun shook his head.

"I have looked at it thoroughly and though there are certain magical properties to the pendant, it appears to be a glamour of some kind not to mention it's totally inactive at the moment. It's absolutely not responsible for what happened. I think this young man is gifted just as you are, young Yuy."

That one stumped Heero. He'd just assumed the thief had been lucky enough to get his hands on an extraordinarily well done enchanted piece that actually worked.

Heero slumped back suddenly feeling very unsure of himself.

"At any rate, you need to rest. The first use of your matured magic can do that to you, hereafter it will be easier." and with that Magi Ruun left.

Within a day, Heero was stubbornly up and around. Magi Ruun had not required him to go back to his studies just yet so Heero was left to wander around. As Magi Ruun had been requested by the King upon still more bad news, Heero found himself wandering into the Magi's personal quarters to take a look at the patient who still hadn't come to.

Tucked into the narrow bed with a cot against the opposite wall, Shin seemed fine if you discounted the cuts and bruises from Heero's fists still coloring his pale face.

Leaning forwards, Heero noticed something he hadn't seen before. With Shin's hair falling back off his face, Heero could now see the elegant curve of a not quite human ear that had been hidden and distracted from by Shin's long hair. He had seen elves before when he'd traveled with the assassin Lowe and knew what this meant. Half breeds were rare and when there was such a one, their lives were cursed or so it was said. They were looked down on by humans for being the offspring of an arrogant elf and since most elves kept to themselves, preferring seclusion from the short lived, impetuous, and slightly inferior humans... well, Heero could only imagine what life amongst elves would have meant. Heero slowly straightened, hand touching his bare ear.

"So you know what that means then." Magi Ruun's said from behind him. Heero turned to face Master Ruun expressionlessly, clasping his hands behind him. His face gave nothing away but Magi Ruun still had the sense that Heero was troubled by his discovery; it could have been his imagination though he didn't really believe that.

"Since he _is_ half Elven... well, that _may_ be why we can't do more." Magi Ruun said leaning over the boy briefly. Nothing. He sighed and turned to leave catching hold of his student's arm as he went. Heero went willing enough until they reached the door where Heero paused and hung back briefly.

"I heard something." Heero said flatly twisting to look back.

"You _heard_ something...?" Master Ruun looked at his student with a raised brow. Then he heard it too, a low moan. In a moment, he was back at the bed.

After a long moment, two violet eyes slowly opened half way, looked up at him, drifted over to Heero Yuy, then closed again and a muffled voice was heard to say rather indistinctly, "You just ruined the best dream I've ever had, damn but you make an ugly woman Heero!"

Heero scowled and opened his mouth but before he could say a word he saw Magi Ruun, for the first time in memory, tilt his head back and laugh out loud.

GWGWGW

"So, you intend to find the ones responsible?" Willick asked this dark complexioned and intriguing youth.

Wufei nodded stiffly, wrapping his hands around his 'cup 'o soup'.

"I have to know. I have to know _why_." Wufei said calmly, on the outside at least.

"What if ya never get an answer, then what?" Willick said sharply. "You said the trail was weeks old."

"It is. But I can feel something... _here._" Wufei said placing his hand over his heart.

Willick looked at him carefully. When the boy had regained consciousness, which had been less than half a day, Willick had taken only moments to realize that this boy was the embodiment of stubborn.

The boy's story had chilled him to the bone. He'd not believed it at first but the boy Wufei honestly didn't care if Willick believed him or not and there wasn't much that was more convincing than that. Wufei was going whether he had to do it all by himself or not.

And he would be, Willick decided uneasily. He was no hero and he reminded himself strongly of his policy of strict noninvolvement. Still, he didn't like the sounds of this and with ancient stories stewing through the back of his mind Willick couldn't shake the feeling that something more was going on. Restlessly, Willick just shrugged. He had a contract for a delivery two towns over and he was going to be late. There was money to be made, and he had absolutely no desire to get in the middle of what promised to be a messy, _**bloody**_ human problem.

A chuckling howl sounded in the distance and the boy Wufei started, staring westward.

"What was that?" Wufei asked suddenly looking years younger and uncertain.

"Haggis." Willick stated flatly watching the boy out of the corner of his eye. "Changin' yer mind?"

Wufei's head came around sharply and his eyes burned into Willick.

"Never ask me such a thing again." Wufei said coldly, face set. Willick sighed to himself. Maybe stubborn wasn't quite the right word... suicidal?

GWGWGW

Blade clashed against blade and Heero openly leered at poor Duo who was trying to catch his breath after the last frantic bout of trying to hold Heero off; which tactic was having only moderate success.

Heero was enjoying himself immensely; Duo was cursing the fate that had brought him to the castle. It wasn't as though he had much choice though with an unusually dedicated guard of some kind shadowing him everywhere till he couldn't spit without them knowing it. The Royal Guard were taking no chances with the former thief known as Shin and while Heero couldn't stand watch over Shin 24/7, there were plenty of City Guard eager to get their hands on the thief who had evaded them for so long and made them look bad time and again.

Sir Demeral and Magi Ruun had made arrangements for Duo and Heero to take studies together pairing them up deliberately figuring that since Heero had been the only one to actually 'catch' Duo, he was the best choice to keep the wily thief from getting loose and that having Shin around would encourage Heero in his Elemental training one way or another.

When, on the occasions Heero was busy elsewhere with his duties, Duo was firmly within reach Master Ruun. If, for some reason, neither one were available, there were two others of the King's personal guard who were hand picked and assigned to him as a pair. Duo discovered that the King's Guard was of a different caliber altogether than the City Guard, these two weren't fools and no fun at all!

Duo figured that while he had never been stuck for long in a place he didn't want to be, this was going to take a bit more time than usual.

He had to take Heero Yuy into consideration after all and he'd gotten the feeling that the young Guardsman had known exactly what had been on Duo's mind when he'd casually tried to scout the lay of the land so to speak without rousing undue suspicions during one of the times Heero had been absent.

Maybe it had been the fact that the few times he managed to slip his official leash for even the slightest fraction of time, there always seemed to be the smirking face of the young Guardsman watching him from somewhere close by.

"Had enough yet?" Heero smirked.

"Hunh. I can take anything you can dish out Yuy!" Duo retorted between heaving breaths and dragging his thoughts back to the job at hand.

He'd thought he was in fine shape... and he was. The problem was that when you're facing an opponent who was equally fit, highly skilled _and _highly motivated to beat the crap out of you, you had to be in better than fine shape. And with Heero _expecting_ Duo to lose... well, Duo's stubborn nature was rearing its ugly head. He knew he'd regret it later when he started counting his bruises but Heero's attitude was getting under his skin. Two weeks of constant needling _will_ eventually get to you!

Heero for his part, had finally started to get somewhere with his studies of Elemental magic and Magi Ruun had conspired with Sir Demeral for an impromptu sort of dual test; Heero's grasp and integration of magic with his fighting skills and to see what Duo was capable of. Duo would have just as soon they left him out of it.

That wasn't going to happen Duo moaned to himself even as he dodged, parried, dodged and parried... well, tried to. Heero crashed right through his defense and if Duo hadn't been so nimble on his feet he would have had yet another bruise to add to his growing collection.

Heero was enjoying this all too much Duo thought furiously as Heero landed yet another blow with the flat of his sword to Duo's arm on a fast back swing...

Duo called a halt by backing up to give himself some room and dropping the point of his blade in aggravation while catching his breath. Heero backed off a faint, cool smile on his face confident that the thief was about to show his true colors.

"Hey, Mister Knight!" Duo called out to Sir Demeral. Sir Demeral winced and narrowed his eyes glaring coldly at the boy which didn't faze him in the least. Magi Ruun smothered a discreet chuckle turned cough.

"I'm no good with this... this _thing_; don't you have a staff or something I could use?" Duo yelled. Heero snorted while Sir Demeral quirked an eyebrow.

"A staff or _something_...?" Sir Demeral inquired skeptically, distaste at Duo's misuse of his title showing in his eyes though he kept if off his face.

"Yes, like a quarterstaff with some punch to it!" Duo repeated in annoyance.

"Will this do?" Magi Ruun pointed to a weapon that had been carelessly left propped against the wall of the practice arena which _never_ happened; the Drill master in charge of training was a stickler for taking care of your weapons and leaving them lay about was _not_ the thing to do if you wanted to stay in his good graces!

"Oh, _yeah!" _Duo yelped in delight catching the naginata_*****_ easily when Sir Demeral motioned to one of the young 'gofers' who had been trying to watch without seeming to as the great Heero Yuy went up against the notorious thief.

A huge grin spread across Duo's face as he promptly dropped into a ready position. With a weapon he understood, was skilled with and liked, Duo was doing _much_ better, even able to pretty much hold his own against Heero much to that boy's aggravation and growing anger. And when Duo actually landed three hits in a row, Heero started to lose his focus and all his training, furious that the thief was trying to show him up once again.

Finding himself losing ground Heero almost subconsciously reached out with his senses and _tweaked_ his Earth sense. Duo stumbled, as expected, when the ground heaved and rumbled under him. Heero grinned, lunging forward and slashing down with his sword.

Duo stumbled as the ground _shifted_ under his feet causing him to lose his footing and go down on one knee as he frantically tried to bring the naginata up in time to block the vicious slash from Heero. He almost didn't make it as blade met staff at an awkward angle... and then there was a resounding _crraack_ as Heero's sword shattered against the naginata.

Heero looked at it dumbfounded, frozen in position. It had been a brand spanking new practice sword straight off the forge of the Royal smithy but there it was... shattered into three separate pieces.

Duo looked up through the tangle of limbs and weapons in disbelief. Sir Demeral strode over calmly enough until he picked up the pieces. The blade of the sword had been split neatly in two and the blade itself had been forcibly separated from the hilt. The thing that nearly gave him goose bumps was the fact that the splits had been made so neatly and so precisely that they could have been used as mirrors, the broken edges smooth and glazed.

Wordlessly scowling, Sir Demeral handed it to Magi Ruun who studied it intently. Heero started to sputter in disbelief.

"_What_ did you do to my sword you little thief?" Heero accused Duo abruptly. Duo scowled and straightened angrily.

"I didn't do _anything_ to your sword you moron! It must have been a bad one that's all. And what was the idea? Using your magic like _that_ _**is**_ cheating you little skink!" Duo retorted

"It was _not_! That sword was fresh from Master Telvere, it _couldn't_ have been bad and you're not going to get away with it this time! If you insist on using magic to get out of tight spots than don't be so shocked when it's used on _you!_" Heero fired back, struggling to get his cool back.

"Blaming me again... you've got issues pal! You have a real problem with blaming everything on magic anytime your _skills_ just aren't up to the job!" Duo snapped back angrily. That was the wrong thing to say. Heero launched himself at Duo and before the two grown men could blink an eye, the two were on the ground and fighting dirty.

"Break it _**up**_..." Sir Demeral started to raise his voice in annoyance but was interrupted by Magi Ruun's hand on his shoulder.

"Let's just sit back and see what happens." Magi Ruun suggested with a glint in his eye. "No one has ever gotten Heero's goat the way Shin seems to and Shin does it so _easily_! And if it wasn't for him, I do believe Heero would have been a long time developing his Talent... maybe he would _never_ have gotten past his notions of magic being inferior. You _did_ notice the way he is already integrating his magic with his swordsmanship did you not... _that's_ what we need and we weren't getting it until Shin came along. I think this is good for our young Guardsman."

Sir Demeral mumbled something under his breath.

"Eh? Did you say something?" Magi Ruun inquired innocently though his hearing was excellent and he had a very good idea of what Sir Demeral had just said. Magi Ruun had a notion that Sir Demeral had been feeling slightly in over his head and maybe even a bit left out with all the time that Magi Ruun had been spending with _his_ protégée. It was also well known that although Sir Demeral used magical aids when necessary, he had always used it with reluctance and suspicion putting his trust instead in well made steel. He was so good at his job no one had found room for complaint unless you counted the times when Magi Ruun would come to heads over various issues with Sir Demeral.

"Nothing! I said nothing Magi!" Sir Demeral said hastily, glumly noting the fact that while Shin was faster than Heero, he _was_ still losing ground to Heero's hand to hand skill and sheer developed strength. He'd probably end up taking on the thief for training and he had no real desire to. A thief was a thief and adding magic to the equation didn't make it any less so.

And then there was that _ridiculous_ hair, it would _have_ to go and it was well known by now that you touched Shin's hair at your peril. They now had three sets of ruined scissors. One set had snapped off at the handle, one set had been dropped, stepped on and mysteriously bent just enough to be unable to work properly and the third set, well, it had mysteriously vanished and Shin had refused to say anything about it at all but it had been well assumed to be permanently missing in action. Odd thing though, for a thief he sure was picky about never telling lies...

When Magi Ruun had failed to get anywhere with the matter of Duo's hair, Sir Demeral had rather uncharacteristically gone so far as to threaten to hack the braid off with a knife but when he'd pulled his knife out to make a point, he somehow slipped in the two feet of distance between him and the street rat and had cut himself rather badly pulling it from it's sheath, then proceeded to drop it on his foot!

_That_ had been embarrassing... and Shin had picked up on that _way_ too fast. They had come to a sort of mutual agreement. Sir Demeral left his hair alone and in return Shin wouldn't publicly humiliate him; the various word pictures Shin had used still popped up on occasion in his uneasy mind. Sir Demeral didn't have many weak spots but his pride in his job and his skills was one that he heartily wished Shin wasn't so keen on. At any rate Sir Demeral had been feeling strangely unsettled due to the situation with Heero's Talent and the arrival of this Shin had only made it worse.

Duo was losing and he knew it but it wasn't like he'd never lost before, he just hated losing to _him_. Straining against Heero directly wasn't getting him anywhere but grappling on the ground lost him any advantage he had by way of speed _or _leverage. And Heero was already well versed in the various street tricks Duo tried, countering them as if he could see them coming. Heero finally had Duo pretty much pinned when he made the mistake of pulling on Duo's hair in his struggle to subdue the surprisingly canny street rat.

Duo let out a yell when he felt Heero's inadvertent yank and all the frustrations and swallowed insults that had been lobbed his way for the last two weeks not to mention the feeling of being trapped in a gilded cage when it was painfully obvious he didn't belong there at the castle came boiling to the surface.

Twisting in Heero's grip until he could feel his arm painfully pop as it dislocated, Duo savagely kicked and pulled simultaneously dislodging Heero's grip on his pinned arm just enough as Heero tried to recover with the hand that was tangled in Duo's hair, to allow him to kick one of Heero's supporting knees out from under him; neither one noticing the pendant's leather thong come apart in the scuffle.

Heero was sure he had Shin when he grabbed for the hold and got a handful of hair. He heard Shin yell, rage and pain evident in his voice and then as Shin wrenched in his grasp until he could feel Shin's shoulder _pop_ as it dislocated and felt his supporting knee get kicked out from under him, he fell forwards across Shin scrambling for a new hold. Instead, Shin managed to turn tables and roll them both until he was on top and then Shin was up and scrambling back to give himself some room.

Magi Ruun sensed something wrong only moments before Heero and Shin scrambled up, Shin facing him in a crouch, teeth bared in a feral snarl, dislocated arm hanging limply. Heero only had time to notice that the arm didn't seem to be bothering Shin at all and that Shin's eyes were literally glowing with a dark purple color and then it was all he could do as Shin came at him unbelievably fast with a green glow bursting into existence around Shin's one good hand.

Heero lunged twisting sharply to one side to avoid Shin's charge but Shin moved too fast and Heero knew he hadn't been quick enough as a cold burning sliced across his chest disintegrating the shirt where it passed. It had done more than disintegrate the shirt Heero soon found out as he became aware of a warm sensation trickling down his chest. Not daring to take his eyes off Shin as Shin turned and started to circle in preparation for another rush, Heero brushed a hand against the cold numbness of his chest only to come away with a red stained hand.

A green glow started to spread from hand to hand and Heero realized that Shin was replicating the naginata with his green tinted Power although how Shin could stand it with a supposedly dislocated arm Heero had no idea and then Shin was upon him again and he was frantically dodging as he spun trying to bring up a defense of his own as he somehow sucked moisture from the very air and formed a shield of ice. Just in time too as Shin's naginata arced against his shield and the contact of raw Dark magic against raw Elemental magic sizzled and sparked viciously before exploding spectacularly and sending both of them flying.

As Shin started after Heero, Magi Ruun got a glimpse of Shin's eyes even as he raised his hands as he started drawing on his Talent. A dark icy chill swept through him and clenched in his stomach as understanding started to dawn. He was forced to split his concentration just in time to catch Sir Demeral by his collar as the man started forwards bellowing for the two to break it up and break it up _**now! **_Magi Ruun forcibly hauled the man back who promptly shook himself loose with a snarl and turned on him. Then Sir Demeral got a look of Magi Ruun's pale and very, _very_ grim face.

"_**Don't**_get involved!" Magi Ruun's voice cracked with a grim authority Sir Demeral had only heard a bare handful of times and on the battle field at that.

"_**What**_ is he doing?" Sir Demeral demanded, there being no doubt whom he meant by 'he'.

"_**I**_ have badly underestimated the whole situation due to a very unusual and extremely rare circumstance and if you get involved you _**will**__ die._" Magi Ruun warned Sir Demeral harshly as he started forwards already reaching out with his own Talent.

They were in trouble Magi Ruun thought. He was an Elemental mage himself and one of the best and strongest around which was how he ended up at the King's court and by the King's side.

Elemental magic was very diverse and practical using the four elements of Water, Fire, Earth and Air. The difference between Heero's raw talent and his own was simple. Most Elemental Mages ended up specializing in whatever element their talent was strongest in. The better ones could handle more than one at a time but in the past hundred years, the best of them could only handle three simultaneously. Only in legend did you hear of an Elemental that could handle four.

Heero was the exception to the rule. Heero was equally strong in all four and could switch back and forth with an ease that made Magi Ruun's teeth ache not to mention combine them in ways that most mages would never dream of or have any desire to. Magi Ruun had not spoken of this yet to anyone; wanting to have a better understanding of the implications of such a thing first.

And while Magi Ruun knew that his own talent, which was strongest in Fire, was formidable he had to wonder if it would be good enough even as he saw the speed with which Shin seemed to recover from the blast. Heero's talent was untrained and fairly unpredictable yet.

Heero forced himself to something close to his feet just in time to meet Shin's latest rush; a sword of frozen flames forming in his hands in an instant to the one weapon he felt most comfortable with crackling against Shin's green naginata of Power. But the chill that spread from the pit of his stomach just got worse as he met Shin's darkly glowing and hungry eyes over their sizzling weapons. Duo _was_ slightly hampered in movement due to his dislocated shoulder but where most men would have been clutching themselves in pain not a flicker showed on Duo's face or eyes. Heero figured he could use it against Duo, he just hadn't figured out how yet. With such a threat in front of them, no one noticed the gem on the back of Heero's bracer glowing hotly.

Distantly, Heero sensed Magi Ruun to one side as the Mage was weaving power of his own but his gaze was locked on the burning eyes of the hungry creature that seemed to be drawn to the sight of Heero's blood soaking his shirt from the first attack.

With Shin's Power raging erractically around him to pool at his hands, it appeared as if Shin's skin had darkened several shades to a dusky hue while his hair seemed to have lightened up considerably but it was his eyes that caught Heero's gaze; the glowing purple pupils almost hypnotic.

And then as Shin thrust Heero backwards savagely and turned on Magi Ruun, Heero became aware of the power building from the King's Magi and knew that Shin had also sensed it and meant to kill this threat before finishing Heero.

Magi Ruun was trying the only spell he figured had a chance of defeating the dark hungry Power that Shin was flinging about so carelessly. It was one that had taken him a long time to perfect but after seeing his own mentor and master slaughtered so many years ago, he'd done a lot of research and put a lot of thought into this particular one. It was true that most Mages didn't combine the different aspects of the Elemental Magic readily and still fewer actually _tried_ to come up with new and different combinations and spells (not to mention it was becoming harder and harder to find strong Magi potentials any more), but it _had_ been done; often at the price of magical burnout or even death if it backfired.

But as Magi Ruun saw Shin push Heero back and turn on him with death in that burning purple gaze, Magi Ruun knew that if he couldn't put a stop to this rampage and with only Heero's raw skills left to fall back on, they would be seeing many new bodies today.

With that thought in mind, Magi Ruun continued to draw on his Talent until he felt he was burning up from the inside out with the strain of handling so much of two of the elements at once; holding them until Shin was directly in front of him and raising his weapon of power to end this threat once and for all.

Then Magi Ruun brought his hands together, twisted with his left as he drew an invisible circle around Shin with his other.

To Shin's surprise, a nearly invisible circle of solidified air sprung into existence around him. Sneering, Shin lashed out with his weapon, the resulting explosion threw him forcefully into the back side of the circle which dissolved long enough for him to realize that the earth beneath him was strangely soft. Before Shin could regain his senses and breath from the explosion of Dark Power against Elemental Air, the Earth hardened around his arms and legs trapping him. Howling with rage, Shin struggled against his earthen bonds, green power crackling around his body.

Magi Ruun braced himself as he stood over the struggling form and continued drawing on his relatively feeble Earth sense determined that Shin would not win. Then he felt a surge of power next to him and without looking, Magi Ruun knew that Heero had seen what he was attempting to do and was now easing his comfortable and powerful Earth magic in and around Magi Ruun's own.

"Can you hold him?" Magi Ruun asked Heero between clenched teeth.

"I can." Heero replied a bit breathlessly.

"You dare not make a mistake... are you _**sure**_?" Magi Ruun hissed.

"I can!" Heero repeated firmly.

Magi Ruun released control to Heero, nearly staggering with the relief after the huge effort he had put into it. But he dare not relax yet, he'd seen with his own eyes the odd coincidences that seemed to follow in Shin's footsteps and he was afraid that their efforts would not hold.

He'd also seen something else. The absence of a pendant around the boy's neck. He thought he knew now what it was and what it did and if he was wrong they might very well have to kill the youth who was such an opposite to the creature snarling from the ground. Maybe they should anyway but Magi Ruun hesitated although he could not have said why.

Then he was startled as a steely hand clasped his shoulder spinning him around and Sir Demeral thrust his face inches from Magi Ruun's own, icy steel in his eyes.

"What are you doing? Kill 'im!" Sir Demeral hissed coldly and clearly over the crackle of Power.

Magi Ruun looked into the cold resolve of Sir Demeral's eyes and hesitated again, took two steps and faltered, the faint glint of a Lekken gem half buried in the dirt from the scuffle catching his eye.

Swirling it to him in a burst of air, he snatched it up as he barked at Heero to hold steady. Magi Ruun collected the torn thong dangling from the pendant's clasp and spun sharply, leaning over the raging creature trapped in earthen bonds. Somehow he managed to get it around Shin's neck, hastily knotting the leather to keep it in place even as the pendant flared hotly the instant it touched Duo's skin.

He straightened and leaned back as Shin shrieked, one clawed hand finally breaking free of its earthen bonds in spite of Heero's best efforts. The pendant flared bright and hot as Shin shrieked again and then with a final shudder Shin went still and the pendant slowly died down.

Magi Ruun caught his breath as he leaned on his knees, Heero doing the same a few paces over. A voice over his shoulder brought Magi Ruun's head up sharply.

"You should have killed him." Sir Demeral observed coldly.

"Perhaps." Magi Ruun straightened up stiffly. "But none of this would have happened in the first place if I had known the truth of the matter and until now the boy has obviously been, if not a model citizen, at least with some sense of right and wrong no matter how much he's tried to hide it."

Sir Demeral snorted skeptically at that.

"Did you know that this young man has been a steady and sometimes sole support of an orphanage over in the Ragged Quarter?" Magi Ruun demanded in offended aggravation.

"And how would you know that?" Sir Demeral retorted not budging an inch.

"I caught him bribing one of the stable hands to carry a package and investigated." Magi Ruun snapped angrily.

"He's still a threat and should be..." Sir Demeral started to fire back, his own anger starting to show in his own voice.

"... should be what?" an icy voice asked from behind the both of them. They both jumped and whirled to face His Majesty King Peacecraft himself who looked none too please at the state of his Royal Practice Court. Looking around pointedly, King Peacecraft turned back to the two of them.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Magi Ruun sighed. He could see he was going to have a long hard battle ahead of him and for the life of him, he couldn't tell if it was worth it or not!

"Sir, it was my fault." Heero said.

At first none of them really comprehended what he'd just said as all three turned their attention on him.

"What did you say?" King Peacecraft said ominously.

"It was my fault." Heero repeated steadily as he glanced at the very still, very pale, rather ill but _normal_ looking boy that lay sprawled on the ground. Well, _in_ the ground... sort of.

"We were sparring and when I started using magic so did he and we got carried away. Sir." Heero summed up quietly.

You could have heard a pin drop as Sir Demeral, Magi Ruun and King Peacecraft all looked at him.

"Is this so?" King Peacecraft finally demanded of Sir Demeral.

Sir Demeral opened his mouth to say something, paused a long, long moment also glancing at Shin and then Heero in turn. Finally he just shut his mouth and nodded grimly.

"Yes, sir." Magi Ruun said in his turn when his King looked at him, staring the King in the eye. "But it seems as though I have a lot of work to do."

King Peacecraft looked at his court mage hard and finally nodded shortly.

"See to it then." he said shortly and turning, started barking orders for the clean up of the area.

"I hope I don't regret this." Sir Demeral muttered grimly out of the side of his mouth at Magi Ruun who in turn nodded his head showing apprehension for the first time.

"But Heero is turning into a fine young man, no?" Magi Ruun murmured back at Sir Demeral who cracked the tiniest of a reluctant smile.

Neither of them said anymore but an unspoken truce was called.

AUTHORS NOTE:

* Naginata is a Japanese pole arm weapon that is similar to a halberd... or in other words a staff with a lightly curved blade (but straight off the end, not off to one side like a scythe) on one end. Sorry if I disappointed anyone but I never could see Duo wielding a scythe... they're just too clumsy, nasty for balance with the blade offset like it is. Deathyscythe could handle it fine with the sheer brute power behind a mobile suit but I just can't see Duo using one, he was better with a gun anyway. So I picked the naginata out as being similar to a scythe _and_ having a practical and skilled use as a weapon.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**Who Am I Really...**

"So what exactly happened out there?" Heero asked Master Ruun as the Healer swabbed at the injuries on his chest. Whatever it was Healer Po was using, it stung and Heero preferred to talk than think about the pink gunk Po was splashing around.

Magi Ruun didn't respond at first, book propped on his knee as he leaned back in his chair with his arms clasped behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

"It's like this. You and I both saw his ears. We both knew what that meant in general terms. The problem is..." he trailed off.

"The problem is what?" Heero prompted. Po clapped him on the shoulder and wordlessly moved over to Shin who was on Magi Ruun's own bed and once again unconscious.

"What I didn't realize is that the stories were true." Magi Ruun said distantly as he continued staring at the ceiling.

"_What_ stories?" Heero asked again, this time impatience tingeing his voice. Magi Ruun finally brought his gaze down and looked at Heero.

"Everyone is familiar with the tales of ancient times when elves and humans lived together and mingled, trading back and forth. But think of this... in every adventure passed down in the ballads there's always a bad guy. For the humans, it's Clavoran or Selvil the Savage."

"... and?" Heero said this time forcibly suppressing his aggravation and Magi Ruun's roundabout way of getting to the point.

"... amongst the elves it was usually one of the Dark Ones. Dark Elves who lived underground and practiced the forbidden arts. There are two branches of elves that people commonly think about when you talk about the Elven race... but in the stories there are three." Magi Ruun paused.

"So you're implying that he's a half breed _Dark_ elf..." Heero said both eyebrows climbing skeptically.

"Well, it fits. What for Elves have you seen in your short life?" Magi Ruun said mildly.

"The Forest Folk and Golden Elves both." Heero said reluctantly. This made Magi Ruun's eyebrows climb. It was rare indeed to meet the Forest Folk.

"You saw what happened out there Heero and you felt it same as I did. No other explanation fits and you know it, you're not stupid Heero. That kind of blood hungry power doesn't fit either of the two surface races." Magi Ruun said dryly. After a moment Heero nodded reluctantly.

"But what does that mean for _him_?" Healer Po asked finally voicing her own question as she straightened up, having listened intently to the discussion. Magi Ruun sighed at that.

"I don't really know. Not much is known about the Dark Folk and the Elves are a rather close mouthed race anyway. I tried bringing it up once to a friend of mine and he wouldn't talk to me for a year. And they _**never**_ forget!" Magi Ruun sighed again, flipping the book shut and slapping it on his desk moodily making Sally Po jump slightly.

She was finished anyway; there was really nothing else to be done after she had popped the dislocated shoulder back. There was no visible reason for it but the boy _was_ unconscious and that was that.

"Actually... I _might_ know of someone who might have some information on Dark Elves..." Sally said thoughtfully.

"_What? Where?"_ Magi Ruun was up out of his chair and in her face so fast Sally had to take a step back and blinked at him.

"... err... one of my friends from the College of Healing had a grandmother who dealt with Elves all her life as a scout for the old Guard under King Allroyd..." Sally said a bit taken aback at Magi Ruun's expression.

"Great... let's go!" Magi Ruun said grabbing her arm and steering a protesting Po towards the door.

"Heero, you are to keep an eye on Shin, we'll be back in a while!" a suddenly energetic Magi called over his shoulder as he headed for the door.

Heero glared at the door at this unexpected turn of events. He turned towards the bed.

"I am _**not**_ babysitting you!" he coldly informed the nonresponsive form on the bed and left shutting the door carefully behind him. That's what the two guards posted at either side of Magi Ruun's door at his request were for. Shin was no longer a threat in his opinion since the thief's skin and hair had returned to normal and Magi Ruun had declared the danger past… probably... at least for the moment.

GWGWGW

Duo slowly came to with a worse headache than the last time; something not helped any by arguing voices.

"...that _doesn't_ fit! If he's part Dark Elf and he's got access to _their_ magic and _if_ what you're saying is true than he'd be dead a long time ago... you just _said_ they're incompatible!" Heero pointed out coolly.

"_That's_ where the pendant comes in. It's a magic absorber or dampener if you will." Magi Ruun said triumphantly.

"And if _that_ were true, he wouldn't have access to Wild Magic _either_." Heero calmly blew that idea out of the water too.

"... you're right but how else would you explain things like the mattress and your sword?" Magi Ruun said irritably.

"I'm not the expert here." Heero said flatly. Magi Ruun glared at him.

"Hey, could you keep it down a bit? My head doesn't want to stay attached as it is without the two of you going at it." Duo mumbled from the bed. Magi Ruun was at his side in a flash.

"Headache? Cottony mouth? Ears ringing?" he demanded.

"Give it a break." Heero grunted irritatedly from where he sat straddling the back of his chair.

Duo squinted up at Magi Ruun for a long moment.

"Are you ok?" he asked frowning up at the Magi.

"What? What do you mean?" Magi Ruun asked cautiously.

"Your hair's white, man, you seriously gotta stop stressing out over things so much!" Duo said crossly, clutching at his head with one free hand.

Magi Ruun looked down at him and Duo could have sworn the man had a sweat drop over his head. Duo thought he heard a choking sound from over by Heero and when he turned his head to look Heero was staring at him with a black look. Not that Duo cared. Heero Yuy had an ongoing case of indigestion as far as Duo was concerned.

"_**What**_?" Duo demanded crossly turning back to Magi Ruun and trying to sit up. He grunted and clutched at his shoulder, puzzled expression crossing his face.

"What's with my shoulder? Did I fall or something?" he asked scowling as he tried rotating it in a full circle.

"You don't remember?" Magi Ruun asked in an odd tone.

"Would I ask if I did?" Duo growled in irritation.

"You don't remember any of it?" Heero wondered skeptically.

"Oh, shut it!" Duo snapped defensively glaring at the both of them. "And no I don't remember anything so would someone please give me a clue?"

"... so you don't remember... _this_...?" and Magi Ruun reached over and yanked the pendant from around Duo's neck. Heero started and hastily snatched for his Power.

Nothing happened. Magi Ruun frowned; this wasn't what he expected at all. He opened his mouth to say something when he saw Duo's face.

Duo could hear his pulse pounding in his ears but the worst of it was that he could feel another sense stirring and awakening, one that seemed to sense the blood rushing through every vein in the other two and something more. It was as if he could hear their hearts beating and could sense the rush of power that lay dormant with every beat of the heart and with a sudden sick feeling that was muffled and distant, he was aware that he hungered for that power.

Face paling at the implications, Duo snatched at the pendant dangling from Magi Ruun's fingers loosely, and clumsily knotted it around his throat again. That done, Duo just huddled there on the bed clenching his hands together around his knees so tightly that you could see white on his knuckles as he buried his face in his knees.

"What did you feel? What did you sense, Shin?" Magi Ruun asked quietly. Heero never moved, face still and blank. It had taken him a moment but he was aware of Magi Ruun brimming with Power and realized it hadn't been just recklessness on Master Ruun's part. Master Ruun had been fully prepared to take Shin down at first sign of going berserk. That and the Magi's quarters where probably the most magically protected oasis within miles. To face Master Ruun in his own quarters was _not_ a good idea!

"Never take it off..." Duo mumbled.

"Eh?" the mage asked leaning forwards to hear better.

"All my life, they told me never take it off. Never take it off, bad things will happen. Things happened anyway. Never take it off, never lose it..."

"Who told you?" Magi asked with narrowed eyes.

"_They _said..." Duo clenched his hands tighter but didn't raise his head. Master Ruun sighed heavily. The boy was shaken, no doubt about it.

"Shin, we'll talk about this again later. In the meantime, rest and I'll have some food brought up for you." The Magi rose and started for the door beckoning to Heero.

"But we _are_ going to have to talk about it eventually and if what I'm thinking is true, you have a problem. But I have seen many strange things and I've learned one thing. If a person is determined, more can be accomplished than would seem possible. So the question remains... how determined are you... Shin?" Magi Ruun turned and left.

Heero followed on Master Ruun's heels, outwardly calm but with turmoil in his heart. He still thought of the thief he knew as Shin as being second rate but in spite of himself there was developing a grudging respect such as you would show any dangerous animal.

And all he had to do was glance down at his torn shirt to realize that there was another level to this street rat/thief that changed _all_ the rules of the game.

Two weeks later the boys were on their way to investigating still another village accompanied by Magi Ruun, Sir Valence and a complement of four more of the top guardsmen in the Royal Guard. Duo was not impressed. By this point all he wanted was his life back and he was tired of pretending otherwise. That and the further west they went, the worse the cold, slimy feeling that had taken up residence in his spine got. But every time he turned around, Heero's knowing eyes were boring into his back with an expressionless gaze that somehow spoke volumes.

GWGWGW

Hilde dabbed worriedly at Quatre's hot forehead. She was about ready to go for a Healer in spite of what the young lad wished. She didn't know what else to do for the boy and he was steadily getting worse. Sighing, Hilde put aside her bowl and cloth and tucked the covers around him for the umpteenth time through yet another coughing fit. Grimly, she rose to her feet and stared for a moment at the very sick young lad. She had no idea of what he might be guilty of but it wasn't worth his life and besides, she seriously couldn't see the gentle hearted young man as having done anything too seriously awful.

Having made arrangements with her young helper to stay a bit past her shift to cover for her, Hilde headed for the door only to have it open under her reaching hand. To her surprise, a tastefully dressed young lady was standing awkwardly outside.

"Can I help you?" Hilde asked, hoping this wouldn't take too long.

"Yes. I'm… umm… I… well… ?" the young lady finally got out in an embarrassed fashion.

Hilde stared at her for a long moment, eyebrows climbing their way to her hairline.

"Why would you ask a thing like that?" she asked warily.

"I… can sense a great distress coming from here somewhere." the young lady said somewhat hesitantly but with a certain confidence leading her on. She was definitely sensing something amiss here.

"Well, as a matter of fact, one of our boarders has come down ill. Are you a Healer?" Hilde finally relented in confusion.

"Yes and no." the young lady replied heading for the stairs upon Hilde's confirmation.

"Wait! You can't just walk in here like that… are you or are you not a Healer?" Hilde called crossly scurrying to get around and in front of the young lady.

"I have the Talent of Life. That's how I knew. He's been calling out for a while now, I couldn't ignore it. Let me see." the young lady insisted sweeping around Hilde and continuing up the stairs.

"In here, M'Lady." Hilde finally relented, leading the way and pushing open the door for her. She'd been able to hear Quatre's coughing even outside the room.

The highborn young lady knelt at Quatre's side and laid a hand on his brow. Quatre wasn't lucid at the moment but the moment the lady's hand touched his face he unconsciously turned her way and his face relaxed though his breathing did not.

The lady closed her eyes and concentrated, a faint glow slowly forming around her hand. The lady slowly started tracing her way down Quatre's face then his chest where she stopped. Placing both hands on Quatre's chest, the glow intensified. After a very long minute, the glow vanished and she opened her eyes to smile at Hilde in delight.

"It worked!" she said in amazement.

"_**What worked?**_" Hilde yelped, a bad feeling clutching her stomach.

"Well, I've never actually _done_ this before…" the young lady stated delightedly.

"_**You bloody imbecile; you coulda killed him if you didn't know what you were doing! GET OUT NOW!"**_ Hilde exploded. She grabbed the young lady's hand and pulled her up with a decisive yank completely ignoring the young lady's look of shock changing to indignation.

"You _**will**_ not talk that way to the Royal Princess of the Kingdom!" Relena raised her voice, too startled by Hilde's abrupt about face to put up a true resistance.

"I don't care if you're the Queen of the World, m'lady, you do _**NOT**_ play with people's lives just because you can!" Hilde stated in a cold fury, getting right up into the Princess' face. Truth be told, Hilde didn't believe a word she said other than that she did indeed have the Life Talent. What Princess' would be walking around without an escort?

The Princess Relena started sputtering, never having been treated this way her entire life. Totally flummoxed, she allowed herself to be pushed out the door and started down the stairs towards the entrance.

Hilde froze halfway down the stairs as two of the Royal Guards crashed through the door having heard the commotion but not knowing anything other than that their Princess had taken it upon herself to trot out into the middle of the poor section on a whim which aggravated them both since if anything happened to the Princess, it would be their careers down the drain and possibly their lives.

"Princess! Is everything alright?" called the taller of the two sharply.

"It is." Princess Relena stated darkly, throwing a ruffled glare at the girl behind her and smoothing her clothes with dignity.

Murmurs started throughout the common room as people started craning their necks to see what was going on.

"So… er… you really are the Princess?" Hilde managed faintly. Even with her father having been a soldier, she had never had opportunity to lay eyes on any of the Royal Family before so how was she to know?

"I am." the Princess stated, recollecting her calm and sweeping the rest of the way down the stairs.

"And you just saved that young man's life even though you don't know him from Adam?" Hilde asked stupidly.

"I did." the Princess answered over her shoulder, pausing to throw a quick, unreadable glance Hilde's way.

"Have a donut?" Hilde offered weakly.

GWGWGW

In spite of Willick's resolution not to get involved in outside matters, how he had ended up here in the middle of a smoking village with a young Dragon was the last thing on his mind as he surveyed the massacre, for that's what it was. Bodies were everywhere, smoke rising from buildings that had huge chunks taken out of them and charred timbers rising towards the sky. The odd thing about it was that there was so little blood.

There was a man who was missing most of a leg and his throat had been ripped wide open amongst other cuts but there was so little blood. The body had been mauled, ripped apart and then left. There was a little girl a few feet away who had most of her face missing and her entrails spilling out from underneath of her but no blood.

A woman who was missing all her limbs with her face intact, frozen into a blank nothingness while a little boy off to the side literally had a single bite taken from the middle of his torso and also left. But there was no blood. Just then, Willick's sixth sense decided to act up. Looking around he realized he couldn't see Wufei.

Coming around the well in the middle of the village square, he stopped dead when he realized Wufei was standing in place with his hands raised as he squared off against a young boy holding the finest crafted bow Willick had ever seen. He knew that design though.

"Drop the bow!" he demanded hands clenching around his throwing axes if he needed them.

"I'd suggest putting your hands where I can see them." a cold voice with that unforgettable lilt that came behind and to his right. There had been a building there Willick remembered even as he growled at having been so easily caught by an elf!

Snarling, Willick promptly forgot all reason as he spun and lunged, solidly ignoring the arrow that promptly imbedded itself in his leather armor and into his shoulder. The elf cursed as he sprang back around the corner of the house avoiding the throwing axe that embedded itself into the corner fracturing the wood upon impact. The dwarf put his head down and literally met the elf head on; helmet clashing against fine Elven steel held lengthwise in its hands but giving way to the sheer weight of the angry dwarf.

Then the elf was spinning to the side slashing as he went but only razing a few locks of hair as the dwarf continued through until coming to a halt against the unforgiving trunk of a tree three feet beyond where the spike on the helmet stuck firm.

As soon as Willick had made his move, the young man holding the bow on Wufei was distracted for a small instant not expecting the elf's challenge to be met in the time honored fashion of dwarves everywhere. As soon as Wufei noticed his attention had wavered, he had flung himself into a forward roll coming out of it with a foot sweep that should have pulled the young man's feet out from under him. However, the young man's reactions were much faster than any Wufei had seen to date and having seen guessed Wufei's intentions, had already started to jump over the sweep although he did lose his bow for his efforts.

Wufei came up off the ground in a surge, striking for the throat or any good target really, but the boy managed to block him in mid-air. The strength of the blow surprised Trowa, it hadn't connected fully but it still sent him flying backwards. Arms crossed to take the blow, he skidded a full yard somehow managing to keep to his feet. Trowa fully expected the young man in white to have come after him directly. Instead, Wufei was in a crouch, hands in front of him palm to palm and flat. With a roar that didn't seem to have come from such a slender body; energy crackled around his hands for one brief moment before Trowa saw a nasty ball of what could have been lightning streaking towards him.

Trowa had no time to do anything but fling up his hands as the ball of energy reached him… and sizzled out in the blink of an eye. Warily Trowa cracked an eye open only to see Shil coming around the corner dusting his hands and a stunned Wufei staring at him open mouthed and in complete and utter shock. Strange muffled shouts could be heard as if from a great distance away but he paid that no heed as he warily waited to see what else the boy in white had to offer.

Shil stopped abruptly at seeing Wufei and frowned. Then he continued forwards till his voice carried clearly to the boy in white.

"It won't work you know. Magic doesn't work against him." he stated calmly, continuing past and picking up Trowa's bow on the way.

"That's impossible…" Wufei stated flatly, still in shock. This was totally unheard of! How could this be possible?

"Would you like to try again?" the elf asked dryly, pausing to give Trowa the once over before handing him back his dropped bow.

"No!" Trowa yelped.

"Yes!" Wufei snapped simultaneously. They glared at one another.

"You'll only get the same results as you did before. First things first, what are you doing here?" Shil interrupted, a certain tone in his voice not allowing for disagreement.

"What are _**you**_ doing here?" Wufei threw back at the elf.

The elf looked at Wufei with a raised brow. This human was certainly not lacking for nerve. In fact, this human didn't seem to be aware of the fact that he was outnumbered and where most people would have been wary at facing off with an elf; that didn't seem to make any difference whatsoever with this young one. And then there was that sense of something ancient about the boy even though he was obviously not even past his teens. Shil frowned as that thought came foremost to his brain and seemed to stick there. _**Could it be? Nah…but if I'm right…?**_

Abruptly, Shil said something in a tongue hitherto unheard by Trowa. The young man in white was suddenly not looking at him at all but focused entirely on Shil and replying in the same tongue. Shil was starting to look faintly shell shocked and rattled something back at the boy who replied with a lengthy statement in a very harsh tone. Then there was a moment of dead silence.

A silence that was broken by the rattle of horses hooves on stone and the sound of armored men. In the blink of an eye, there was no one in sight at all and the village square was completely empty.


End file.
